The Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (c.42) (LGHA 1989) identifies a number of politically restricted posts in a local authority. It further identifies certain categories of post deemed to be politically restricted on the basis of one or more defined characteristics and introduces the requirement for every local authority to prepare and maintain a list of such posts.
There are four main categories of Politically Restricted Posts:
Posts individually identified in Legislation which are:
- Chief Executive
- Statutory Chief Officers: Chief Social Work Officer and Chief Finance Officer, Chief Education Officer
- Monitoring Officer
- Political Assistant
Posts identified by their relationship to others:
- Non-Statutory Chief Officers (employees for whom the Chief Executive is directly responsible or who are directly accountable to the Local Authority or its Committee or Sub-Committee).
- Deputy Chief Officers (employees who reports directly to or is directly accountable to one of more of the Chief Officers).
Posts identified by the characteristics of their duties:
- Those involving the provision of advice to the local authority, defined as ‘a person who, on a regular basis, gives advice to the local authority, or to any joint committee on which the authority are represented’.
- Those involved in contact with the media, defined as ‘a person who, on a regular basis, speaks on behalf of the authority to journalists or broadcasters’.
Posts to which duties have been delegated:
- The posts included by virtue of delegation are defined as those posts in a list kept by the local authority, which specifies the powers of the authority exercisable by officers of the authority and defines the officers empowered to exercise those powers.
Further information on politically restricted posts is detailed within the Councils’ Guidance on Politically Restricted Posts within North Lanarkshire Council and you can also access the current List of Politically Restricted Posts below.