header-logo header-logo

An officer and an…employee?

01 May 2015 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 7650 / Categories: Features , Local government , Public
printer mail-detail
nlj_may_1_dobson

Although all local authority employees are officers, are all authority officers necessarily employees, asks Nicholas Dobson

All local authority employees are officers. But do all officers have to be employees? The issue is important not least since statute requires relevant authorities (per s 21(1)(a)-(k) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989) to designate “one of their officers” as “monitoring officer”. This position has personal responsibility for specified functions designed to secure the authority’s corporate legal propriety.

But nowadays there are many permutations and combinations of local government legal practice. One chief legal officer in a local authority can often be responsible for the legal propriety and well-being of two or more councils. How does this fit into the statutory scheme of things? Fortunately a May 2010 decision of HH Judge Grenfell in the High Court in Leeds brought some clarity to a rather cloudy statutory picture, albeit that the matter concerned a chief finance officer rather than a monitoring officer.

The case was Pinfold North Ltd v. Humberside Fire Authority [2010]

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll