Former Monitoring Officer at Birmingham moves to unitary council

Birmingham City Council's former City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer, Janie Berry, has been appointed Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council.

In a December 2023 decision record for her appointment, the council’s Chief Executive, Graham Farrant, said the decision had to be made urgently to avoid losing an "exceptional candidate for the role and especially as we move towards the formal budget setting process".

Berry joined Birmingham from City of York Council and was Monitoring Officer when Birmingham issued a section 114 notice in September 2023. She subsequently issued a report under section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 on the local authority's pay equity system (PES), at the same time as the council issued a second section 114 report.

A Grant Thornton report published after the section 114 notices revealed Berry was under investigation at the request of "some senior politicians" at Birmingham.

The auditors’ report noted, however, that: “As far as we are aware, the Council had not […] commissioned or received legal advice that indicated that the Monitoring Officer had provided incorrect legal advice (noting in particular that the LGA was not commissioned to give legal advice to the Council but was rather offering a mediation and support role)." 

Berry, who replaces the previous Monitoring Officer who retired from the role in October 2023, joined BCP on 11 December 2023.

Adam Carey