PAPER B
EMERGENCY SCHEME OF DELEG TION - OFFICERS
BACKGROUND
In light of the current Covid-19 advice issued by the Government and the likelihood that the
situation maybe ongoing, the following scheme of delegation has been written to ensure
continuity of the Town Council’s work and to enable business to continue ‘as usual’ in these
uncertain times.
If a local lockdown is imposed the Council need to ensure that they are acting in accordance
with Government advice whilst still continuing to function and acting for the benefit of the local
community.
Staff have arranged for the phones to be diverted if needed and have set up ‘Microsoft teams’
to enable all staff to stay in contact and work efficiently from home.
This Scheme of Delegation can also be enacted in the event of any other significant national or
regional emergency.
DELEGATION TO OFFICERS
The following matters are delegated to the Council’s Officers to make decisions on behalf of
the Council in the event of an emergency.
These decisions must be exercised in accordance with the law, the Council’s Standing
Orders and Financial Regulations and any approved policy framework and budget.
The Council may at any time, following resolution, revoke any delegated authority.
Officers may decide not to exercise delegated responsibilities and may instead make a
recommendation to a Committee or the Council. Similarly, where Officers have no delegated
power to make a decision, they report the matter to Committee or the Council for a decision.
All decisions made under delegated powers by officers should be in accordance with
the Council’s ethos, current policy, ethics and in the best interests of the Council, Ryde
and its residents.
1. Town Clerk
The Town Clerk shall be the Proper Officer of the Council as defined in law. The following
decisions are delegated to the Town Clerk:
(i)
Issue all statutory notifications.
(ii)
Receive Declarations of Acceptance of Office.
(iii)
Receive and record notices disclosing pecuniary interests.
(iv)
Receive and retain documents and plans.
B - 1
(v)
Hold the Council’s Seal and apply it to documents as approved.
(vi)
Sign notices or other documents on behalf of the Council.
(vii)
Receive copies of By-laws made by principal authority.
(viii)
Certify copies of By-laws made by the Council.
(ix)
Sign summons to attend meetings.
(x)
Ensure compliance with Standing Orders
(xi)
Manage all Town Council staff, either directly or indirectly.
(xii)
Manage the provision of Council services, buildings, land and resources.
(xiii)
Incur expenditure in an emergency up to £10,000 whether budgeted or not.
(xiv)
Act on behalf of the Council in an urgent situation and report back to the Council as
soon as practical.
(xv)
Deal with dispensation requests from Members under the Code of Conduct.
(xvi)
Deal with matters specifically delegated by Council or Committee.
(xvii)
Take all decisions relating to the training of Councillors & staff.
(xviii)
Decisions for Health & Safety across all Council owned sites.
(xix)
Day to day management of all of the Council’s Human Resources functions.
(xx)
Decisions regarding the provision of services and whether to close premises or
cease the provision of services.
(xxi)
To re-deploy staff if required to aid and support emergency community initiatives
(xxii)
To apply for Grants on behalf of the Council.
To have the following delegated authority in consultation with the Mayor and/or Deputy
Mayor.
(xxiii)
Appoint all employees in accordance with the Council’s staff structure.
(xxiv)
Authorise minor non-fiscal adjustments to contracts of employment and job
descriptions to meet the needs of the Council.
(xxv)
Appoint casual / temporary members of staff as needed to meet the business needs
of the Council and within existing budgets.
(xxvi)
Authorise additional hours of work for existing staff on a temporary basis to support
the business needs of The Council.
(xxvii)
Deal with all disciplinary matters and hearings in accordance with the Council’s
Disciplinary Policy.
(xxviii)
Authorised to issue press releases on any Council activity exercised in accordance
with Council policy.
(xxix)
Incur expenditure in an emergency up to £25,000 whether budgeted or not.
(xxx)
To declare an ‘Emergency’ and implement the Emergency Scheme of Delegation.
(xxxi)
To make decisions on any new business if in accordance with the Town Council’s
agreed Corporate Plan.
2. Place Plan and Committee Co-Ordinator
To act as the Proper Officer in the absence of the Town Clerk where necessary for the smooth
running of the Council.
B - 2
(xxxii)
To deputise for the Clerk in their absence and to be afforded the same delegated
authority as listed in section 1.
(xxxiii)
Overseeing Council transparency, access to information and data use and storage,
including day to day management of Council’s website.
(xxxiv)
Matters specifically delegated by the Council, a Committee or the Clerk.
(xxxv)
In the absence of the Town Clerk, authorised to issue press releases on any Council
activity exercised in accordance with Council policy.
3.
Responsible Financial Officer
(i)
Ensure Compliance with Financial Regulations.
(ii)
Ensure compliance with all financial procedures.
(iii)
Determine accounting policies, records and control systems.
(iv)
Manage risk management of the Council.
(v)
Approve the payment of all invoices
(vi)
Proper administration of the Council’s financial affairs.
(vii)
Report to External Auditor matters under Local Government Finance Act 1988 s114.
(viii)
Arrange and manage the Council’s insurance arrangements.
(ix)
Management of Council salaries in accordance with contracts of employment.
(x)
Matters specifically delegated by Council or Committee.
(xi)
In the absence of the Town Clerk, authorised to issue press releases on any Council
activity exercised in accordance with Council policy.
(xii)
Responsible for the overall management of all budgets in accordance with Council
policies.
(xiii)
To approve virements between budget headings in consultation with the Clerk and
the Chair of the relevant committee.
The RFO or Finance Administration Officer to have the following delegated authority in
consultation with the Chair and/or Deputy Chair of Finance.
(xiv)
To respond to all consultations addressed to the finance committee on behalf of the
Council
(xv)
To approve Grants applications that adhere to the Council’s grant funding policy up
to a value of £10000
(xvi)
In the event of the RFO or Finance Administration Assistant being unavailable to
work the Planning Clerk shall deputise for the RFO and have delegated authority to
act in their absence.
4.
Facilities & Assets Officer
(i)
Day to day management of land, buildings and other resources.
(ii)
Management of maintenance, cleaning and all other Council service contracts.
(iii)
Day to day management of all employees within section.
(iv)
Approve expenditure up to the limit of £3500 for urgent works required to any Council
facilities.
(v)
Day to day management of Civic functions of the Council.
(vi)
Decisions for Health & Safety across all Council owned facilities.
B - 3
To have the following delegated authority in consultation with the Chair and/or Vice
Chair of the Chair Facilities and Assets Committee
(i)
For reasons of safety close any of the following facilities to the public:
Skatepark
Public Conveniences
Allotments
(ii)
In the absence of the Town Clerk, authorised to issue press releases regarding any
Council facilities exercised in accordance with Council policy.
(vi)
In the event of the Facilities and Assets officer being unavailable to work the
Facilities and Maintenance Officer shall deputise for the FA Officer and have
delegated authority to act in their absence.
5.
Planning Officer - To have the following delegated authority with regard to all
decisions regarding:
(i)
Day to day management of all employees within section.
(ii)
Day to day management of all planning matters.
(iii)
Day to day management of all matters relating to the HAZ project
(iv)
Day to day management of the Harbour Acquisition
(v)
Incur expenditure within budgeted limits
To have the following delegated authority in consultation with the Chair and/or Vice
Chair of the Planning Committee
(vii)
To submit a response on behalf of the Town Council with regard to Planning
Applications
(viii)
To submit a response on behalf of the Town Council with regard to Licensing
Applications
(ix)
To submit a response on behalf of the Town Council with regard to Highways
proposals
(x)
To decide on Public Realm Improvement applications
(xi)
Ryde Harbour to undertake any necessary negotiations with regard to the
acquisition of Ryde Harbour in consultation with the Chair of the Acquisitions and
Commercial Management Committee.
(xii)
In consultation with the Chair of the Acquisitions and Commercial Management
Committee to take any decisions necessary to complete the Acquisition of Ryde
Harbour on behalf of the Town Council.
(xiii)
Ryde Harbour - Once acquired the Planning Officer in consultation with the Chair of
the Facilities and Assets Committee will have authority to make any decisions
regarding the safe running of Ryde Harbour and to commission any works as
agreed in the Harbour Improvement Plan.
(xiv)
In the event of the Planning officer being unavailable to work the Committee and
Place Plan Co-Ordinator shall deputise for the Planning Officer and have delegated
authority to act in their absence.
B - 4
6.
Network Ryde - Youth Work Manager
(i)
The day to management of Network Ryde be undertaken by the Youth Work
Manager or in their absence the relevant Session Lead.
(ii)
Day to day management of employees within this section
(iii)
To re-deploy staff to aid and support emergency community initiatives
(iv)
To apply for Grants on behalf of Network Ryde
(v)
To incur expenditure within budget.
(vi)
To appoint staff as considered necessary within budget
To have the following delegated authority in consultation with the Chair of the Network
Ryde Sub-Committee
(i)
To temporarily close 147 High Street on Health and Safety grounds
(ii)
To agree to provide and implement Outreach Services
(iii)
To temporarily cease outreach services on Health and safety grounds
(iv)
To suspend or restart services in line with Government advice.
(v)
To make any decisions necessary to ensure the safe running of the Council’s Youth
Service and the safety of staff.
In the event of the Clerk being incapacitated or unavailable to work the Chain of
command is as follows:
(i)
Town Clerk
(ii)
Committee and Place Plan Co-Ordinator
(iii)
Planning Clerk
(iv)
Committee and Administration Assistant
(v)
RFO
(vi)
Facilities and Allotments Officer
(vii)
Facilities and Maintenance Officer
Network Ryde
(i)
Youth Work Manager
(ii)
Clerk
(iii)
Session Lead
(iv)
Duke of Edinburgh Lead
(v)
Youth Administrator
B - 5
B - 6
Ref
Decision
Committee
Officer
Chairs
No
Decision Taken
Date
Reported To
Reason for Decision
Name
Name
Financial Details
To engage
Chris
Diana
1
Lindsey Simpson
25/03/2020
Planning
To complete Ryde HAZ bid
Turvey
Conyers
£400.00 + vat
Chris
2
Hand Sanitizer
01/04/2020
Clerk
Coronavirus
Turvey
N/A
£50.00 + vat
To support
Heritage England
request for Interim
To ensure Ryde HSAZ project goes
3
Project Manager
01/04/2020
Finance
ahead
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
£4500
To incur costs of shopping for those
isolating with no costs and to invoice for
To be paid from Ryde
4
Shopping Fund
02/04/2020
Clerk
reimbursement
Lisa Dyer
N/A
in Bloom budget
New Laptop
5
Purchase
Clerk
Laptop purchase to replace broken laptop
Lisa Dyer
£549
Public Toilets Closed due to corona virus
Public Toilet
and unavailability of Environment Officers
Shona
Karen
6
Closures
Clerk
for H&S inspections due to isolation
Parnell
Lucioni
none
Facilities and
Shona
Karen
7
Skatepark Closure
Assets
Closed due to lockdown
Parnell
Lucioni
Submit Grant
£5000
£2500 loan
8
request to IWC
Finance
Covid 19 IWC funding Grant application
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
£2500 Grant
£6175 community
Determination of
Gareth
grants, £6946.40
9
Grant Aplications
08/04/2020
Finance
Committee meeting not taking place
Hughes
Phil Jordan
Marketing grants
Review of Place
To revise place plan to ensure post covid
Diana
10
Plan
14/5/2020
Clerk
recovery
Lisa Dyer
Conyers
Up to £5000
To get 10,000
Place Plan
To produce up to date COVID-19 Leaflets
Shona
11
leaflets printed
22/06/2020
Working Group
for Ryde Town
Parnell
Michael Lilley
TBC
Shona
12
Marketing Audit
01/07/2020
Full Council
Needed a one off Marketing Audit.
Parnell
Michael Lilley
£5,000
B - 7
Streamlining Process - WH no longer
Footprint Trust
need to supply details of each applicant.
Warmer Homes
Quarterly report will still be received as at
13
Initiative
11/06/2020
Finance
present
Liz Dutton
Phil Jordan
Covid secure Risk assessments
Re-open Public
Facilities and
undertaken and social distancing measure
Shona
Karen
14
Toilets
Assets
in place
Parnell
Lucioni
Covid secure Risk assessments
Re-open
Facilities and
undertaken and social distancing measure
Shona
15
skatepark
Assets
in place
Parnell
To defer June
round of
community and
Covid 19 situation and review of grant
16
marketing grants
02/06/2020
Finance
process
Liz Dutton
Phil Jordan
Request from
Warmer Homes to
alter how they
operate due to
COVID ie no
home visit at
present but
applicant required
to sign declaration
to confirm
information given
17
is correct
21/05/2020
Finance
Covid 19
Liz Dutton
Phil Jordan
Admin staff
appointment Part
18
time support
18/06/2020
Finance
Staff shortages - temp appointment
Lisa Dyer
Michael Lilley
Ryde Unite Grant
- Haylands Farm
19
£500
22/06/2020
Finance
COVID-19 Ryde Unite
Liz Dutton
Phil Jordan
Purchase 3 laptops to enable staff to work
£2748 Grant award
20
Grant Application
20/06/2020
Network
from home
Lisa Dyer
from HIWCF
Ryde Unite Grant
- Phoenix Project
21
£450
20/06/2020
Finance
COVID-19 Ryde Unite
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
B - 8
Ryde Unite Grant
- Jigsaw Family
22
Support
09/07/2020
Finance
COVID-19 Ryde Unite
Liz Dutton
Phil Jordan
To support the
To cover Street
Buy Local craft
Licensing Fees £290
23
market
21/07/2020
Full Council
To promote Ryde as a visitor destination
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
approx
To commission
bid writer to
research and
apply for grant
funding for Place
Plan related
To ensure Place Plan objectives are
24
projects
21/07/2020
Full Council
delivered.
Lisa Dyer
Michael Lilley
Town Marketing
Marketing
To promote Ryde as a Covid safe
24
Campaign
15/07/2020
Working Party
destination
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
£6,000
Monkton Arts - Promotions for August
25
Marketing Grant
01-Aug
Finance
Events
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
£5,000
26
Community Grant
02-Aug
Finance
Monkton Arts - Community grant
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
£5,000
To commision
To ascertain the current condition of the
condition report
Commercialisation
theatre building, repairs needed and
27
for Ryde Theatre
and Assets HAZ
viability of building.
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
?
To commission
Valuation and
Survey of St
Commercialisation
To inform consideration to purchase for
28
Thomas' Church
and Assets
use by Network Ryde
Lisa Dyer
Phil Jordan
To agree to fund
additional bin
collections along
Litter build up / complaints regarding
29
Ryde Esplanade
Full Council
excess litter around bins.
Lisa Dyer
£90 per day
Undertake urgent
repairs to lifeguard
Facilities and
Liam
Karen
30
station
3rd August
Assets
Unsafe handrail and rotten facias
Pearce
Lucioni
Street Trading
Licence and land
To host jointly with Natural Enterprise the
31
hire
31st July
Full Council
'Let's Buy Local' craft market
Lisa Dyer
Full Council
£1000 approx
B - 9
Chris
32
Dredging Survey
March 2020
Full Council
Dredging survey for Ryde Harbour
Turvey
£1140
Network
33
Grant Application
12th August
Network Ryde
To apply for funding for Outreach project
Bex Swan
Ryde
B - 10