G1 - Role of Officers and Management Structure

1. Introduction

1.1 The use of the word ‘officers’ means all employees and persons engaged by the Council to carry out its functions, and includes those engaged under short-term, agency or other contract for services.

1.2 The Council may engage such staff as it considers necessary to carry out its functions.

2. Chief Officers

2.1 The Council shall engage persons for the following posts, who shall be designated chief officers:

3. Statutory Officers

3.1 There is a legal requirement to allocate some specific responsibilities to officers and the Council has designated the following posts, which will have the functions described in sections 3.3-3.5 of this chapter:

3.2 The term ‘proper officer’ is used in many different statutes. Therefore, it is appropriate for different officers to fulfil this role depending on the context. As such, unless otherwise stated in the Constitution, the proper officer shall in each case be the person nominated by the Chief Executive for that particular purpose.

3.3 Functions of the Head of Paid Service:

(a) Discharge of Functions by the Council. The Head of Paid Service shall report to Full Council, or an appropriate committee, on the manner in which the discharge of the Council’s functions is co-ordinated, the number and grade of officers required for the discharge of functions and the organisation of officers.

(b) Restrictions on Functions. The Head of Paid Service may not be the Monitoring Officer but may hold the post of Section 151 Officer if a qualified accountant.

(c) Exemptions from Political Restrictions: The Head of Paid Service will be responsible for considering applications from officers for exemption from political restriction in respect of the post held by that officer.

3.4 Functions of the Monitoring Officer:

(a) Maintaining the Constitution. The Monitoring Officer will maintain an up-to-date version of the Constitution and will ensure that it is widely available for consultation by members, staff and the public.

(b) Ensuring Lawfulness and Fairness of Decision-Making. After consulting with the Head of Paid Service and Section 151 Officer, the Monitoring Officer will report to the Council if they consider that any proposal, decision or omission would give rise to unlawfulness or if any decision or omission has given rise to maladministration. Such a report will have the effect of stopping the proposal or decision being implemented until the report has been considered.

(c) Providing Advice. To act as the solicitor to the Council and in consultation with the Head of Paid Service and the Section 151 Officer, to provide advice on the scope of powers and authority for the Council to take decisions, maladministration, probity and governance issues, to all councillors and to support and advise councillors and officers in their respective roles.

(d) Supporting the Constitution and Ethics Committee. The Monitoring Officer will contribute to the promotion and maintenance of high standards of conduct through provision of support to the Constitution and Ethics Committee. This will include making arrangements for the hearing of allegations against members concerning breaches of the Code of Conduct.

The Monitoring Officer shall also support the Constitution and Ethics Committee in ensuring the Council’s Constitution is fit for purpose and in this role, shall keep it under review and make recommendations as to how it might be amended to better achieve the purposes set out in Chapter A1 (The Constitution) or in response to changes in law.

(e) Conducting Assessments. In the case of allegations that a councillor has breached the Members’ Code of Conduct, the Monitoring Officer and the Council’s Independent Person shall conduct an initial assessment of complaint and make a decision as to whether the complaint warrants investigation or any other action.

(f) Conducting Investigations. Where allegations of breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct are referred for investigation, the Monitoring Officer shall make arrangements for the conduct of such investigations and report the findings to the Constitution and Ethics Committee.

(g) Proper Officer for Access to Information. The Monitoring Officer shall ensure that decisions of the Council and its committees, together with the reasons for those decisions, and relevant officer reports and background papers are made publicly available as soon as possible.

(h) Advising whether Decisions are within the Budget and Policy Framework. The Monitoring Officer will advise whether decisions of the Council and its committees are in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework.

(i) Providing Advice. The Monitoring Officer shall provide advice on the scope of powers and authority to take decisions, maladministration, financial impropriety, probity and Budget and Policy Framework issues to all Councillors.

(j) Qualified Person. The Monitoring Officer shall determine whether information should be exempt from disclosure under the provisions of Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

(k) Restrictions on Posts. The Monitoring Officer cannot be the Section 151 Officer or the Head of Paid Service.

3.5 Functions of the Section 151 Officer:

(a) Ensuring Lawfulness and Financial Prudence of Decision Making. After consulting with the Head of Paid Service and the Monitoring Officer, the Section 151 Officer will report to the Council or its committees and to the Council’s external auditor if they consider that any proposal, decision or course of action will involve incurring unlawful expenditure or is unlawful and is likely to cause a loss or deficiency or if the Council is about to enter an item of account unlawfully.

(b) Administration of Financial Affairs. The Section 151 Officer shall have responsibility for the administration of the financial affairs of the Council.

(c) Contributing to Corporate Management. The Section 151 Officer will contribute to the corporate management of the Council, in particular through the provision of professional financial advice.

(d) Providing Advice. In consultation with the Monitoring Officer, the Section 151 Officer will provide advice on the scope of powers and authority to take decisions regarding financial matters, financial maladministration, financial impropriety, probity and Budget and Policy Framework issues to all councillors and will support and advise councillors and officers in their respective roles.

(e) Give Financial Information. The Section 151 Officer will provide financial information to the media, members of the public and the community.

(f) Restriction on Post. The Section 151 Officer cannot be the Monitoring Officer but may hold the post of Head of Paid Service.

3.6 The Council has the duty to provide the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer with such officers, accommodation and other resources as are in their opinion sufficient to allow their duties to be performed.

4. Conduct

4.1 Officers will comply with Chapter G3 (Officers’ Code of Conduct) and Chapter F3 (Member/Officer Protocol) of the Constitution.

5. Employment

5.1 The recruitment, selection and dismissal of officers will comply with Chapter G4 (Officer Employment Procedure Rules) of the Constitution.

6. Management Structure of the Council

6.1 The Head of Paid Service shall determine, subject to Council approval, and publicise a description of the overall departmental structure of the Council showing the management structure and deployment of officers, as follows.

6.2 The senior management structure of the Council comprises the following officers:

• Chief Executive (statutory Head of Paid Service)
• Executive Director of Finance and Resources (statutory Section 151 Officer)
• Executive Director of Strategy and Partnerships
• Executive Director for Children, Education and Families (statutory Director of Children’s Services)
• Executive Director for Adults, Health and Commissioning (statutory Director of Adult Social Services)
• Executive Director of Place and Sustainability
• Director of Public Health (statutory Director of Public Health)
• Service Director: Legal and Governance (statutory Monitoring Officer)
• Service Director: Human Resources

6.3 These officers together comprise the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) for the Council. In the absence of the Chief Executive, one of the executive directors will be designated on a rotating basis and will then exercise the functions of the Chief Executive.

6.4 The Chief Executive may vary the posts designated to comprise the CLT, but the Staffing and Appeals Committee shall make any new permanent appointments to executive director roles so designated. Assistant director, service director and head of service level positions will be appointed by the Chief Executive or executive directors, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter G4 (Officer Employment Procedure Rules).

6.5 The delegated authorities of the Chief Executive, the Executive Director of Finance and Resources (statutory Section 151 Officer), the Service Director: Legal and Governance (statutory Monitoring Officer), and the executive directors are set out in Chapter G2 (Scheme of Delegations to Officers).

7. Management Structures of the Council's Directorates

7.1 The management structures of the Executive Director of Finance and Resources, the Service Director: Legal and Governance, the executive directors and directors are set out below, with most functions headed by a service director or assistant director:

(1) Executive Director of Finance and Resources

• Statutory Section 151 Officer functions
• Corporate Finance, including Treasury and Debt Management
• Professional Finance, including Finance Business Partnering
• Procurement and Commercial
• Property and Facilities Management
• Customer and Digital Services, including Customer Services
• Local Government Shared Services Lead Authority functions.

(2) Service Director: Legal and Governance

• Statutory Monitoring Officer functions
• Legal Services
• Internal Audit and Risk Management
• Information Governance and Data Protection
• Democratic and Member Services

(3) Executive Director for Children, Education and Families

• Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding (including statutory Director of Children’s Services)
• Education
• Fostering, Adoption and Kinship Services
• Special Educational Needs and Disability Services

(4) Executive Director for Adults, Health and Commissioning

• Adult Social Services and Safeguarding (including statutory Director of Adult Social Services)
• Commissioning (Children’s and Adult Social Care and Health)
• Learning Disability Partnership

(5) Executive Director of Place and Sustainability

• Highways and Transport
• Planning
• Natural Environment, Heritage and Archives
• Climate and Energy Services
• Digital Connectivity
• Regulatory Services

(6) Executive Director of Strategy and Partnerships

• Legal and Governance (including Statutory Monitoring Officer line management)
• Democratic and Member Services
• Internal Audit and Risk Management
• Information Governance and Data Protection
• Communities, Employment, Skills, Libraries and Community Safety
• Human Resources and Learning and Development
• Health and Safety
• Emergency and Business Continuity Planning
• Policy, Insight and Programme
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

(7) Director of Public Health

• Statutory Director of Public Health
• Public Health and population wellbeing
• Health Improvement
• Public health advice on health and care services
• Health protection
• Joint Health and Wellbeing Board support
• Non-voting member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System

[Chapter G1 (Role of Officers and Management Structure) was last amended on 11 February 2025]

A PDF version of this chapter is available to view or download on the CMIS section of the Council’s website, along with a PDF version of the full constitution.