Issue - meetings

The Executive Member for Corporate Services presented the Code for Local Authority Statutory Officers and said the code was the result of a collaborative effort by SOLACE, CIPFA and LLG. He explained that the code focused on the ‘Golden Triangle’ and the statutory roles that underpinned good governance.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services confirmed that the golden triangle structure remained strong and compliant at East Herts and aligned with national recognised standards. The Code made a commitment to transparency and leadership in the governance framework. He said it had been presented to the Standards Committee for comments on 29^th January 2025.

Councillor Dumont proposed that the recommendation in the report be supported. Councillor Dunlop seconded the proposal.

Councillor Clements said that when the code was presented to the Standards Committee, there was a reference in it to the Decision-Making Accountability report which said the golden triangle was not working as it should and believed that was the reason the Code was being presented to Council to adopt. He said that he did not object to the code but without seeing the report, Members would not be confident that the issues had been resolved. He asked if Members could have sight of the report.

Councillor Dumont said that the Code had been developed over a year ago and it was being adopted by several local authorities across the country.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services confirmed that the Code had been developed in July 2024 and had been discussed in several forums such as the Hertfordshire Heads of Legal group and the Standards Committee. He said that the LGA conducted a decision-making accountability (DMA) report last year which was at the behest of the previous Chief Executive in order to assist with the formulation of suggested structures for the senior management team.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said that the DMA identified that the Golden Triangle wasn’t operating quite as strongly as it should be at that time and highlighted that it was an area that should be strengthened. He said that the DMA was not disclosable as it was conducted in order to allow the Leadership Team to have full and frank discussions around what senior leadership structure better suited the authority today and in the future, and in order to be able to have those discussions, a safe space was required to develop ideas, debate live issues and reach decisions away from external interference and distraction.

Councillor Crystall added that the key parts of the DMA report highlighted the structure of the Leadership Team, and this was something that the Interim Chief Executive was currently looking at.

Councillor Deering said that the DMA report had been referred to in a public meeting and felt that any privilege attached to it was removed. He asked for clarification if the report was privileged or non-disclosable.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said it was not disclosable but did not have legal privilege status.

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer submitted a report that updated the Standards Committee on the Code of Practice on Good Governance for Local Authority Statutory Officers, which had been produced collaboratively between SOLACE, CIPFA and LLG.

Members were advised that the report was self-explanatory, and they were advised of the function of the three bodies that together formed the golden triangle within local authorities. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said that the code sought to strengthen the golden triangle and having a very strong golden triangle in a local authority was important and was the best way to ensure good governance.

Members were advised that this report was evidence of the council’s commitment to strengthening the golden triangle and showed a determination to ensure that each point of that triangle in senior positions were included in all decision making and were able to attend meetings of the Leadership Team. The code emphasised the need for that attendance and the report reiterated that the Nolan Principles were there for everyone who worked in a public role.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained that formal adoption of the code by Council was an option and would demonstrate a serious intent by the local authority to reaffirm the important of emphasising that those three points were working effectively together.

Councillor Clements said that he was interested in the report that was referenced by the Local Government Association (LGA). He expressed a concern regarding the working of the golden triangle and commented on whether the code had been brought forward in response to the LGA report.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said there were new Officers in the statutory roles, and he would have to talk to the Chief Executive about the status of the report. He said that some of the commentary in the DMA report would be slightly out of date now.

Members were advised that the golden triangle was working well, and regular meetings were taking place between the Interim Chief Executive, the new Interim Section 151 Officer, and the Monitoring Officer.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said that the code was being prepared by SOLACE, CIPFA and LLG in any event, and the code was being adopted by numerous local authorities and by several local councils in the area and was therefore not being brough in as a direct response to the aforementioned LGA report. He said that having the code in place would ensure that Officers could refer to a useful and helpful external document if there was any uncertainty as to how the golden triangle should be operating.

The Chair thanked the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer for his report and said that she felt that it would be useful for this code to come to Full Council so that all Members had sight of the document.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said that in his role as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 306