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Section 151 (S151) Officer delegation of responsibilities
The Executive Director of Corporate Service and Section 151 Officer has agreed delegations of their responsibility.
The delegation of responsibilities agreed by the Section 151 (S151) Officer are set out in the tables below and this is record of approval of these delegations.
Remember that:
- key decisions still need to go on the forward plan, even if they do not need to be approved by the Finance team
- all Cabinet reports need to be approved by the S151 Officer or Deputy
- you will still need to get Finance approval if you do not have sufficient budget to implement the decision
- if any decision is unusually contentious or involves significant risk then you should seek finance advice on the report, even if it is not on the list
| Category | Delegation |
|---|---|
| All Chief Officer Actions (less than £500,000 (five hundred thousand)) | Senior/Finance Business Partner or Financial Controller in consultation with Head of finance |
| All Exec Director Decisions (less than £2,000,000 (two million)) | Head of Finance |
|
All Exec Director Decisions (less than £2,000,000 (two million)) |
Head of Finance |
Cabinet Member Actions (CMA)
| Category | Delegation |
|---|---|
|
Appointment of school governors |
No s151 required |
|
Setting and adjustment of school term dates |
No s151 required |
|
Adoption of Local Highway Panel recommendations |
No s151 required |
|
Reports about speed limits |
No s151 required |
|
Reports about pedestrian crossings |
No s151 required |
|
Reports about other traffic orders |
No s151 required |
|
Reports about works to the highway |
No s151 required |
|
Reports relating to EYCC (Early Years and Childcare) Capital Grants of under £2m (two million) where the spend is within the approved budget |
No s151 required |
|
To access funds for a business case where the business case is already signed off by s151 |
Head of Finance |
|
To draw down from reserve where the reserve draw down is with in COA (Chief Officer Action) threshold (less than £500,000 (five hundred thousand)) |
Head of Finance in consultation with Head of Strategic Finance & Insight |
|
To agree a spending plan for external grants within COA threshold (less than £500,000 (five hundred thousand)) |
Head of Finance |
Other
| Category | Delegation |
|---|---|
|
To bid for revenue and capital grants that are within COA threshold (less than £500,000 (five hundred thousand)) |
Head of Finance |
|
To accept external grant into the authority |
Head of Finance |
|
Issue of new purchasing cards to staff |
Head of Finance |
|
SELEP (South East Local Enterprise Partnership) accountability board attendance |
Head of Finance, Corporate & Strategic Partnerships |
|
SELEP accountability board papers |
Head of Finance, Corporate & Strategic Partnerships |
| Outline Business Cases (OBC) within existing budget/Medium Term Resource Strategy (MTRS) | Head of Finance |
| Decisions with no financial implications | Head of Finance |
|
Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) Papers (where no additional funding is required) |
Head of Finance |
|
Political Leadership Team (PLT) Papers (where no additional funding is required) |
Head of Finance |
|
Operational Leadership Team (OLT) papers (where no additional funding is required) |
Head of Finance |
|
Essex Cares Limited Cabinet Member Actions (CMA) (where decision agreed at shareholder meeting OR an Essex County Council CMA is in place for the same decision) |
Head of Finance, Corporate & Strategic Partnerships |
|
Health & Wellbeing board papers |
Senior Finance Business Partner |
Head of Finance delegation
Where the table says Head of Finance under the delegation column, that is specifically the Head of Finance who supports the function taking the decision.
However, where a Head of Finance is off for a period of 5 or more working days, during that time an alternative Head of Finance or the Deputy S151 officer can sign off delegated Cabinet Member Actions (CMA) or Executive Director Decisions in consultation with Financial Controllers and the relevant Senior Finance Business Partners if they are affordable within the current MTRS (Medium-Term Revenue Strategy) and/or budget.
CMA sign-offs
For CMAs that are signed off by Heads of Finance they will be collated in the Section 151 inbox (via link to Microsoft Teams channels) where the S151 and deputy S151 can review and access each report at any time, the aim is to sign off CMAs within 5 working days of receiving them to this inbox.
All other CMAs not listed above are signed off by the S151 Officer (including Deputy).
If the S151 and Deputy S151 are off for a period of 5 or more working days at the same time
Where the S151 and Deputy S151 are off for a period of 5 or more working days at the same time, during that time Heads of Finance have delegated authority to sign off all CMAs relevant to their area, if they are affordable within the current MTRS and/or budget, and not just those that are listed above.
PLT, CLT and OLT papers with financial implications
S151 or Deputy S151 are to be briefed on all Political Leadership Team (PLT), Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and Operational Leadership Team (OLT) papers with financial implications, ahead of meetings (Heads of Finance will arrange these briefings).
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