Monitoring officer issues section 5 report over political impasse

The report follows councillors' fourth unsuccessful attempt to elect a leader at a full council meeting on 15 July.

According to monitoring officer Alex Bougatef, the continued impasse represents a breach of the council's statutory duties under the Local Government Act 2000 and the Children Act 2004.

The report, issued on 31 July, explains that the council is currently relying on emergency delegations that allow the chief executive to exercise executive functions.

However, the report warns that officer delegations "are designed to only be an emergency bridge, not a legally sustainable substitute for executive democracy", adding that the current position places the council in breach of section 9I of the Local Government Act 2000.

The council is also in breach of section 19 of the Children Act 2004, having failed to appoint a lead member for children's services, according to the report.

Bougatef said the circumstances now raise issues concerning constitutional compliance, governance, accountability, executive decision-making and public confidence.

Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 places a duty on a monitoring officer to prepare a report where it appears that a proposal, decision or omission has given rise, or is likely to give rise, to a contravention of any enactment or rule of law.

The report states: "The Monitoring Officer's provisional opinion is that Full Council has repeatedly failed to discharge a constitutional responsibility to elect a Leader; that the omission has continued beyond a reasonable time period; that the omission has impaired the operation of the governance framework adopted by the authority; and that the circumstances justify consideration of a report under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989."

It says members must "proceed immediately" to nominate and vote on the appointment of a leader in accordance with the council's standing orders.

The report also warns that the monitoring officer will notify the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of the continuing governance failure if a leader is not appointed.

The report says the continuing absence of a leader has significant consequences for cabinet formation, portfolio allocation, strategic leadership, accountability and external confidence in the council's governance arrangements.

It adds that the situation may also affect the authority's ability to demonstrate clear political direction.

Elsewhere, the report warns that the governance circumstances could lead to statutory intervention by central government on best value grounds.

A spokesperson for the council said: "This report set out that as the Council has no Leader or Cabinet, the Council is therefore acting unlawfully. Councillors now have 21 days to consider the implications.

"Within those 21 days, there will be an extraordinary council meeting for councillors to meet and once again attempt to elect a Leader and Cabinet – this is a legal requirement. If they are unable to come to an agreement at that point, the Council will write to the Government for them to consider next steps."

Adam Carey