Can a member of staff of the council become a voting member of a subcommittee?

Question

Recently elected unopposed councillor question:

A member of staff who is
-preparing and writing reports on a project

-working closely with the chair of the subcommittee (who stands to gain a lot from the project going ahead)

-apparently quite invested and has personalised any criticism or questioning of the project

-clerking the meetings

is also a voting member of the subcommittee.

I have no idea what her disclosable and non disclosable interests are, but straight away one of them is that she is paid by the council. This seems wrong and legal topic note ‘non councillor members of committees’ applies here surely, but everyone is treating it as fairly standard.

Answer 1

As the person quoted is an employee of the council and attendance at a committee meeting is either as an employee( admin duties) or a lay member of the committee then they have no voting rights on decision making only input in discussions.

Comments

As usual 100% agree with Mentorman
It’s not unusual for staff to show bias it’s down to weak Councillors letting them

I’ve been involved in a recent example where a Clerk circulated a ranting email to all Councillors strongly opposing  a matter despite the fact that this was in breech of the Parish Council rules
Out of interest how does the Chair stand to gain ?

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The subcommittee has been set up to work up and progress a project which will see a massive redevelopment of a facility which will bring huge benefits to a couple of local groups. The Chair is a long standing committee member and currently Treasurer of one of the groups. Though unpaid, his group will see most benefit from the development at huge cost to the council.

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You could explain the position to the  Monitoring Officer to see if they feel an interest should be declared
Ours is brilliant at helping like this but others less so
I have an allotment and I’m asked to leave the room when they are discussed

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Gah, monitoring officer couldn’t care less.

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I’m sorry to hear about your MO ours is straight down the line I can talk to him anytime I want