The purpose of the report before Members was to revise Part 3.1 and Part 4.7 of the Constitution so as to establish an advisory committee reflecting the new mandatory standing orders. These amended the procedure to be followed for dismissing a statutory officer of the Council i.e. the Head of Paid Service, the Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) and the Monitoring Officer (the relevant officers).

The requirement imposed on the Council to appoint a “designated independent person” before it could dismiss or discipline its Head of Paid Service, Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer), or Monitoring Officer, had been replaced with a new requirement to appoint an independent Panel as and when required for the purposes of advising the Council on matters relating to the dismissal of one or more of the relevant officers. The Panel must have at least two members, being independent persons who had been appointed for the purposes of the members’ conduct regime under section 28(7) of the Localism Act 2011.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Hirst SECONDED the recommendation in the report and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

1.     The Council’s Constitution be revised as set out in Appendix A to the report with immediate effect.

2.    The current allowance paid to an independent person shall incorporate the duties under the Dismissal Advisory Panel.