Officer-Member Protocol
Adopted 5th August 2019
Introduction
St Agnes Parish Council exists to serve the interests of its Parish. Members (councillors) and officers have a joint responsibility to ensure that they work collaboratively to ensure an efficient, transparent and democratic Council focused on these interests.
Members and officers will conduct a review of the Member Officer Protocol and its application at least once every four years, to ensure continued high standards of relations between members and officers.
The Council has agreed the following protocol about the relationship between members and officers in order to clarify roles and responsibilities.
Given the variety and complexity of such relations, this protocol cannot be prescriptive or cover all eventualities. However, it does aim to be instructive and offer guidance on some common issues and provide points of principle that can be applied to other issues that might arise.
Roles of Members and Officers
Members and officers depend upon each other in carrying out the work of the Council.
Members are responsible to their electorate for so long as their term of office lasts and have a duty to act in the best interests of the electorate and the Council. Officers are responsible to the Council.
Members ensure the Council and its officers are aware of the concerns of their electorate and help decide the overall direction of the Council and, where appropriate, act in a supporting role in carrying out the work of the Council…
Respect and Courtesy
In order to serve its community and deliver its stated aims and objectives, functions and duties, members and officers must work together in a harmonious relationship based upon mutual respect, courtesy, trust, honesty and understanding of each other’s roles…
- Using aggressive language, threatening, ridiculing, ignoring people, or shouting
- Shifting blame to others
- Phoning people at home unnecessarily (especially demanding work when the person is absent due to sickness or ill health)
- Focusing only on weaknesses
- Bringing up details of someone’s private life inappropriately
- Leaving impossibly long lists of tasks and making unreasonable demands
- Criticising people in their absence
- Racist comments or jokes
- Questioning an individual about their sexual relationships/preferences
- Frequent comments about physical appearance or using demeaning forms of address
- Repeated staring, leering, or suggestive looks
- Unwanted physical contact, including assault
- Unwanted sexual advances
- Displaying offensive images or media
- Excluding colleagues due to age, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation
- Threatening someone’s job or promotion
- Using intimidating gestures or language
- Coercing others into bullying behaviour
Officer Support to the Council
It is clearly important that there should be a close working relationship between members and the officers who support and/or interact with them…
Members Access to Documents
Members’ right to inspect Council documents is restricted and will not apply to certain items, for example because they relate to individual employees…
Information and Advice to Members
Any Council information provided to a member must only be used by that member for the purpose for which it was provided…
Representing Interests
Officers are neutral in that they serve the whole Council and not a particular sector or political group…
Communication and Advice
Save in exceptional circumstances, all letters and other communications on official Council business should be sent out only in the name of the Proper Officer (the Clerk)…
Public Relations and Press Releases
The Clerk has overall responsibility for public relations and press releases on behalf of the Council…
Disputes
With goodwill, respect and integrity on both sides there ought to be very few occasions when a disagreement between an officer and a member cannot be resolved amicably…