Officer decisions

A written record of officer decisions (made in connection with the discharge of certain executive and non-executive functions) must be published by law.

These are made available for inspection by members of the public (as soon as reasonably practicable after they are made) together with any background papers.

[Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements A) Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014]

The records must include the following:
Details of the decision and the date it was made
Reasons for the decision
Details of any other options considered and why those options were rejected
Details of any conflict of interest declared by any executive member consulted in relation to the decision or, where a decision is taken under a specific express authorisation, the names of any member of the council or local government body who has declared a conflict of interest must be recorded.
In respect of any declared conflict of interest, a note of dispensation granted by the council’s Chief Executive.

It should be noted that the requirement to record decisions relating to the executive extends only to ‘executive decisions’. These are defined in the council’s rules. However, many administrative and operational decisions officers take on how they deal with their day to day work will be delegated within the council’s rules, and are not in this ‘executive decisions’ category. As such they do not need to be recorded.

The requirement to record decisions taken by officers which are not relating to the executive functions of the council but are matters for the council, extend only to decisions taken by officers acting under a specific express authorisation and to only three categories of decision taken whilst acting under a general authorisation. These categories cover decisions to:
Grant a permission or licence
Affects the rights of an individual
Award a contract or incur expenditure which, in either case, materially affects that relevant local government body’s financial position

Administrative and operational decisions about how officers go about their day to day work within the council’s rules do not need to be recorded.

Background documents relating to any executive decisions which contain ‘exempt information’ as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) cannot be made available for public inspection and are therefore not published or made available in accordance with Regulation 20(3) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

In accordance with the above Regulations officer decisions regarding Licensing, Building Regulations and Planning Decisions are available and can be found on the Licensing Register Building Control Register Planning Portal

Use the below search options at the bottom of the page to find information regarding recent decisions that have been taken by council officers.

You can view notices of decisions made by officers prior to 2021 here

Alternatively you can visit the decisions by Cabinet, committees, etc page for information on decisions that have been taken by the council’s decision making bodies.

Officer Key decisions are subject to 'Call-In' by elected members in accordance with the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.