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Chapter 52: Member / Officer Relations Protocol
Members have the right to criticise reports or the actions taken by officers, but they should:
not make personal attacks on officers; and
Members have the ability to agree or reject proposals placed before them by officers, irrespective of the advice or recommendations made by officers so long as they generally act in good faith and exercise reasonableness in decision-making and specifically:
Officers must therefore, be able to report to Members in accordance with their professional expertise.
The Council operates a Member’s Enquiries system which is for the Mayor and Members to use for routine requests for information and advice. A copy of the procedure is found at
Member Enquiries Policy and Process (towerhamlets.gov.uk) (Internal only link) The maximum turn round time expected for such enquiries is 10 working days and officers will chase outstanding enquiries exceeding this period. Matters which are not routine or involve policy should be directed initially to the relevant Corporate Director or Director or any officer nominated by them.
Procedural Rules and specific local procedures (e.g. on contracts) require Members and officers to maintain confidentiality in certain circumstances. Officers are bound by their contracts of employment and any breach of confidentiality will almost certainly lead to disciplinary action. Officers must distinguish between assisting an elected representative in the course of the Member’s Council business and dealing with the same person as a client or customer, e.g. a Housing Benefit claimant. In the latter case, Officers will treat the Member with the same degree of helpfulness, courtesy and confidentiality as would be afforded to any other member of the public in the same situation, and interpret the relevant rules and procedures as they would for any other client or customer.
Equally, any Council information provided to a Member on the basis of a ‘Need to Know’ must only be used by the Member for the purpose for which it was provided, i.e. in connection with the proper performance of the Member’s duties as an elected representative of the Council. Confidential or exempt information provided to Members may be discussed in Part II Committee meetings or in private meetings of appropriate Members and Officers. However, it should not be discussed with, or released to, any other persons. Any information provided should be clearly marked as confidential before it is released to Members.
Similarly, the unauthorised disclosure of confidential or exempt information is regarded by the authority as a serious disciplinary offence for Officers. This includes an unauthorised disclosure to a Member.
Any request from a Member for information will be treated in confidence by Officers and will not be made known to any other Member or political group. Officers are also under a duty not to relate any information disclosed privately by a Member(s) (e.g. during Part II discussions at Committee, etc., informal briefings, private conversations or Group meetings) to another Member, Officer or person not already privy to that information.
The duty of officers to observe a Member’s confidence however will not apply if the information disclosed relates to something which could damage the Council or which is illegal or constitutes maladministration. In this event the matter will be referred to the appropriate Corporate Director and/or Monitoring Officer and Chief Executive for further investigation and action as appropriate.