Colchester City Council is appointing two ‘Independent Persons'. This is a flexible opportunity for a unique part-time volunteer-based role. The main requirement of the job is to provide independent support to the council’s Monitoring Officer and Governance and Audit Committee.
The Independent Person’s role is to ensure elected members uphold standards of conduct in carrying out their duties. They will work with the Council’s Monitoring Officer when they are considering complaints against Councillors or co-opted Members. They may also be consulted by the Councillor, who is the subject of a complaint, and the Governance and Audit Committee must seek their views before taking a decision on a complaint.
Candidates do not require legal qualifications, nor need previous experience of the role. However, the right applicant will be required to have a good understanding of the public sector. To do the job well, they will want to serve the local community and have experience of implementing and upholding standards.
Applicants will need to be objective and act with fairness, impartiality, and integrity, as well as display high standards of conduct and ethical behaviour. They will also need to be able to attend evening meetings.
The role won’t take up a huge amount of time and would be suitable for people with flexibility in their existing working arrangements or have spare time and are interested in promoting the highest possible standards of behaviour in public life.
To get an information pack to read before applying or for an informal discussion, please email democratic.services@colchester.gov.uk. The closing date for applications is Monday 18 March 2024. In-person interviews are scheduled week commencing 25 March 2024.
Page last reviewed: 11 March 2024