About the Role
As an Independent Person: Governance, you will support the Monitoring Officer of Sutton Council and provide an independent view on Code of Conduct complaints submitted against members of the council (elected Councillors).
The expected average time commitment is only one or two hours per week and is dependent on the number of complaints received. The Council aims to maintain a small panel of independent persons, typically 2 or 3 at any one time, both to allow for any conflicts of interest and to share the workload.
Key aspects of the role include:
1. Providing advice to the Monitoring Officer in considering allegations that a councillor/co-opted member has breached the council’s Code of Conduct;
2. Sometimes sharing your views on a complaint with the councillor against whom it has been submitted;
3. If necessary, attending meetings of the Code of Conduct Panel and council committees, for which reasonable expenses will be paid
About Us
As an Independent Person, you will not be a council employee. However, you will work closely with the Monitoring Officer, their deputies, and colleagues in reviewing Code of Conduct complaints.
Reasonable expenses will be paid in the discharge of your role. As a voluntary position, you will not be expected to work to a specific schedule but will correspond with the Monitoring Officer and other officers via phone and/or email when your advice is sought.
About You
It is essential that you:
4. Are familiar with the Seven Principles of Public Life (the “Nolan Principles”)
It is desirable that you:
5. Have previous experience as an Independent Person;
6. Are qualified or experienced in legal or governance matters
An Independent Person cannot be:
7. A member, co-opted member or officer of Sutton Council nor have been one during the last five years;
8. A relative or close friend of a person who fulfils the criteria above
Our Offer To You
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
9. Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
10. Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
11. Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
12. Comprehensive learning and development programme
13. Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
14. Interest free season ticket loans
15. Local Government Pension Scheme
16. Car parking scheme
17. Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
18. Zip car scheme
19. Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
20. Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
21. Subsidised gym membership