Oakham Town Council unlawfully delegates decision making to Cllr Michael Haley
it is unlawful for a council to delegate decision making to any individual councillor and the chairman is no different or the deputy in the case of Cllr Haley.
Of course Oakham Town Council believes no law applies to them.
I can mention this item now because it was not exempted this evening.
The town council is owed six months rent from a former tenants Mr and Mrs Spurdle who had a considerable sum of taxpayers money spent on them. setting up the former gym in
Princess Avenue. in 2012 the council spent a quarter of its precept on them.
The town council eventually decided to take county court action against the former
tenant.
That action has reached the point of mediation.
The council this evening was asked to appoint Cllr Michael Haley as the mediator.
The Mayor Cllr Adam Lowe explained to us all that this would entail Cllr Haley
making a decision on behalf of the council.
The law very clearly states It is unlawful for a council to delegate decision making
to any individual Councillor.
NALC Legal topic. States A council cannot delegate the performance of its statutory and legal responsibilities to an individual councillor.
So I tried to point this out to members I referred to the external auditors report
produced by Grant Thorton and available to members as it was an agenda item
this evening.
Cllr Lowe then lied and said he did not say Cllr Haley would be making any
decision. I pointed out he did and I could play back the record. In a childish
manner not meant he told me to go ahead. (video to follow)
At the same meeting members also refused to support my proposal that
the cemetery working group carried out instructions give by council.
Rather stupidly later in the meeting Cllr Lucas demanded that something
else was done because the council had approved a resolution previously.
Other decisions made were also unlawful, mainly due to the law requiring councils
to obtain three quotes. Oakham Town Council feels it can write regulations
which permit them to ignore laws.
OTC should read the basic good councillor guide produced by NALC
What can you do? What must you do? What must you not do? The rules
may not be exciting, but without understanding them your council could
run into trouble.
• A council must do what the law requires it to do.
• A council may do only what the law says it may do.
• A council cannot do anything unless permitted by legislation.
What happens if a decision needs to be taken between meetings? Where
the matter needs full discussion, the chairman might call an extraordinary
meeting, but delegation is a useful tool. Section 101 (of the Local
Government Act 1972) allows a council to delegate the power to make
decisions to an officer, a committee, a sub-committee or another council.
It is good practice to specify in standing orders the kind of decisions that
the clerk can make such as routine decisions, dealing with emergencies or
spending small sums of money. Standing orders may require decisions to be
taken after consultation with two councillors (including the chairman) but the
decision remains with the officer. Most importantly, the council must not allow
delegation to a single councillor – not even to the chairman.
it is unlawful for a council to delegate decision making to any individual councillor and the chairman is no different or the deputy in the case of Cllr Haley.
Of course Oakham Town Council believes no law applies to them.
I can mention this item now because it was not exempted this evening.
The town council is owed six months rent from a former tenants Mr and Mrs Spurdle who had a considerable sum of taxpayers money spent on them. setting up the former gym in
Princess Avenue. in 2012 the council spent a quarter of its precept on them.
The town council eventually decided to take county court action against the former
tenant.
That action has reached the point of mediation.
The council this evening was asked to appoint Cllr Michael Haley as the mediator.
The Mayor Cllr Adam Lowe explained to us all that this would entail Cllr Haley
making a decision on behalf of the council.
The law very clearly states It is unlawful for a council to delegate decision making
to any individual Councillor.
NALC Legal topic. States A council cannot delegate the performance of its statutory and legal responsibilities to an individual councillor.
So I tried to point this out to members I referred to the external auditors report
produced by Grant Thorton and available to members as it was an agenda item
this evening.
Cllr Lowe then lied and said he did not say Cllr Haley would be making any
decision. I pointed out he did and I could play back the record. In a childish
manner not meant he told me to go ahead. (video to follow)
At the same meeting members also refused to support my proposal that
the cemetery working group carried out instructions give by council.
Rather stupidly later in the meeting Cllr Lucas demanded that something
else was done because the council had approved a resolution previously.
Other decisions made were also unlawful, mainly due to the law requiring councils
to obtain three quotes. Oakham Town Council feels it can write regulations
which permit them to ignore laws.
OTC should read the basic good councillor guide produced by NALC
What can you do? What must you do? What must you not do? The rules
may not be exciting, but without understanding them your council could
run into trouble.
• A council must do what the law requires it to do.
• A council may do only what the law says it may do.
• A council cannot do anything unless permitted by legislation.
What happens if a decision needs to be taken between meetings? Where
the matter needs full discussion, the chairman might call an extraordinary
meeting, but delegation is a useful tool. Section 101 (of the Local
Government Act 1972) allows a council to delegate the power to make
decisions to an officer, a committee, a sub-committee or another council.
It is good practice to specify in standing orders the kind of decisions that
the clerk can make such as routine decisions, dealing with emergencies or
spending small sums of money. Standing orders may require decisions to be
taken after consultation with two councillors (including the chairman) but the
decision remains with the officer. Most importantly, the council must not allow
delegation to a single councillor – not even to the chairman.
