South Tyneside Council scraps boosting spending powers for officers after debate
Plans to increase the level of spending which could be carried out by local authority officers without going before councillors have been scrapped.
A report to the annual meeting of South Tyneside Council had recommended changes were made to the limits for officers exercising delegated powers to let contracts and acquire and dispose of interests in land.
It explained previously the threshold for delegated authority, which is where a decision can be made by officers without going to councillors at a meeting of the leading cabinet, had been £500,000 but was lowered to £250,000 some years ago.
The threshold was increased to £350,000 in May 2024 by council because of the impact of inflation and issues of timeliness for a decision to be made.
The local authority’s constitution committee had recommended lifting the cabinet approval threshold level once more from £350,000 to £500,000.
Reports noted reasons for the proposed change included how contract awards for housing services were previously overseen by South Tyneside Homes board.
However, since the transfer of housing services back to the council the transactions will now come through the local authority’s governance process, increasing the amount of contracts and reports which will go before cabinet.
Council leader Councillor Tracey Dixon, speaking at the annual meeting, proposed scrapping the change, which was supported by councillors in attendance.
The Labour councillor said: “Many members have raised with me concerns about the proposed changes to the limits for officers exercising delegated powers to £500,000 from £350,000.
“Constitution committee discussed and agreed that due to the impact of inflation, timeliness, and the transfer of the housing services back to the council, a change would be beneficial.
“However… I would like to propose a change to the recommendation in order to keep the threshold at £350,000. Please be in no doubt colleagues that this has nothing to do with any concerns of officer scrutiny or accountability.”
Councillor Glenn Thompson, South Tyneside Alliance Group representative, who sits on the constitution committee, noted the proposed change had caused “a lot of concern to say the least” within his group and he supported it being dropped.
However he admitted he understood why it came in front of the committee due to inflation and council housing services coming back in-house.
Council reports noted since March 2024 there have been 29 awards which have required cabinet approval as they have exceeded the £350,000 threshold.
In the period March to October 2024, South Tyneside Homes board approved a further 20 contracts through its governance framework.
The report noted therefore across a whole year there could be upwards of 60 contracts to be awarded through separate reports to cabinet – likely around 7 or 8 per meeting.
For any decision on expenditure which falls below the threshold for it to go before cabinet, the overview and scrutiny co-ordinating and call-in committee continues to have the power to require the cabinet to submit a report to council on any matter which is not treated as a key decision.
The meeting was broadcast live on South Tyneside Council’s YouTube channel and is still available to view here.