The Irish local government system has traditionally
operated a corporate model with the county/city manager accountable to the
elected councillors who in turn are answerable to the people at election time.
In theory this equates to the relationships between a CEO (City/County
Manager), a Board of Directors (elected councillors) and the shareholders
(electorate).
Under the local government Management Acts, the
functions of local government are divided into two classes – Reserved
Functions, performed by the elected members and Executive Functions, performed
by the City/County Manager. While the law tries to make an exact division of
functions, it was never the intention that the elected members and the Manager
should operate independently of each other. The fact that the executive
functions are assigned to the Manager is simply intended to provide the elected
council with an experienced, whole-time administrator for the prompt and
efficient discharge of day-to-day business without making an undue demand on the
time of the elected members. The Manager is ultimately an employee of the local
authority, appointed by the elected members (on the recommendation of the
Public Appointments Service) and he may be suspended by them or removed from
office with the consent of the Minister of the Environment, Community and Local
Government.
The elected council is responsible for all policy
decisions and the Manager must act in conformity with the general policy laid
down by them. In carrying out his duties, the Manager operates under the
general supervision of the council. The power-sharing relationship between
elected members and the Manager is at the heart of understanding local
government in Ireland. The perception among very many councillors is that the
power in Irish local government is skewed towards the Manager. Other
councillors will readily admit that they have passed power to the Manager in a
number of controversial areas due to their unwillingness to make difficult
decisions.
In producing the Local Government Reform Act 2014,
Minister Phil Hogan has sought to re-address the balance of reserved/executive
functions in favour of the elected councillors. The title of City/County
Manager is to disappear and Chief Executive Officers will replace it, thus
re-enforcing the corporate model mentioned above. Section 54 of the Local
Government Reform Act 2014 deals with the new post of CEO and the section runs
to nearly 10 pages.
The main change being introduced is in relation to the
appointment of the CEO. It has always been the case that the elected members
formally appointed the Manager but they were obliged to do so, i.e. the
legislation stated that the council shall
appoint the candidate recommended by the Public Appointments Service.
Intriguingly, under the 2014 legislation, councillors are being given veto
powers. Within three months of having received a recommendation from the Public
Appointments Service, the council must meet and decide to appoint or not
appoint the person recommended. If the council decides not to approve the
appointment, reasons for such a decision must be furnished to the recommended
person.
It is interesting to tease through some of the
ramifications of this veto power. Previous legislation insisted on the fact
that the elected members had to
appoint the recommended person so as to avoid political influence in the
process. The new legislation brings the appointment of CEO firmly into the
political arena which may not be wise. Of course, a strong argument can also be
made that the Board of Directors should have a key role in deciding who their
CEO will be.
Will the new veto power have a damaging impact on
candidates from the private sector applying for the role of CEO in local
councils? After all, winning through a competitive process organised by the
Public Appointments Service and then being rejected by the elected council is
not a very attractive proposition for outside candidates. While the council’s
vote on the appointment of a CEO has to take place in a closed session, it is
highly probable that details of the meeting will emerge and the credibility of
the rejected candidate will suffer.
Other than the veto power, there is little in the
Local Government Reform Act 2014 to suggest that the role of CEO will be any
different from that of Manager. The act continues the trend of previous
legislation by listing the reserved powers of councillors and simply stating
that ‘every function which is not a reserved function is an executive
function.’ Maybe the new CEOs need greater clarity than that?
Dr Aodh Quinlivan is a
lecturer in politics at the Department of Government in University College
Cork, where he specialises in local government. Twitter: @AodhQuinlivan
No comments:
Post a Comment