Scheme of Delegation for financial management

The Scheme of Delegation shows the authorised amount of spending that each approver or budget holder can approve. It is essential that there are sufficient approvers at each level to make sure orders can still be approved if an employee is on leave or sick. 

My Oracle uses the Scheme of Delegation to request approvals for purchase orders when buying goods and services, so it is important that the right signatories are set up against codes or projects. 

Budget holder responsibilities 

Budget holders are accountable for the effective management of the budgets allocated to them, even when delegated authority is in place that enables other officers to authorise expenditure on their behalf. 

As a budget holder you can agree delegations of your budgets to other officers. You are responsible for making sure the Scheme of Delegation is updated appropriately if there are any changes. 

Full details of what you can and cannot do under delegated powers are set out in the Financial regulations and scheme of delegations for financial management (PDF, 1.6MB). 

Use the My Oracle Guidance Hub for help with: 

• accessing the Scheme of Delegation Dashboard 
• requesting a change to the Scheme of Delegation  

Approval levels 

The list below sets out the authorised expenditure levels.   

As Delegated by the Budget Holder – Level 1

Essex County Council - £1,000 (one thousand)

As Delegated by the Budget Holder – Level 2

Essex County Council - £10,000 (ten thousand)

As Delegated by the Budget Holder – Level 3

Essex County Council - £50,000 (fifty thousand)

Head of Service - Level 4

Essex County Council - £150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand) 

Budget Holders – Level 5

Essex County Council - £500,000 (five hundred thousand) 

Directors – Level 6

Essex County Council - £1,000,000 (one million) 

Executive Directors – Level 7

Essex County Council - £2,000,000 (two million) 

Chief Executive – Level 8 

Essex County Council - Unlimited