POLITICAL RESTRICTIONS ON
LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
– GUIDELINES
Introduction
These guidelines are designed to explain the political restrictions on local
government employees and the principles of politically restricted posts. In
addition, they form part of the guidance for managers relating to recruitment
and selection.
Legislative background
The first statutory attempt to ensure the political impartiality of those who
serve in local government was under the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA
1972). In 1989, the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (LGHA 1989)
introduced the principles of ‘politically restricted posts’ (PoRPs) and of
restricting the activities of local authority employees.
The ODPM is currently reviewing the regulatory framework governing the
political activities of local government employees and further guidance is likely
to be issued.
Restrictions under the LGA 1972
A local authority cannot appoint as an employee in any capacity, any
councillor who is currently a member of that authority or who has been a
member in the previous 12 months (s.116). If the member resigns they must
still wait 12 months before they can be employed by the same authority.
An authority employee will be disqualified from being elected or holding office
as a member of that local authority.
Politically restricted posts (PoRPS)
The main provisions regarding PoRPS are set out in Part 1 of the LGHA 1989
and further details are set out in the Local Government (Politically Restricted
Posts) Regulations 1990. All local authority employees fall within the scope of
this Act.
Which posts are politically restricted?
Each local authority is under a duty to draw up and regularly update a list of
posts that are politically restricted. Human Resources maintain this list.
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Politically restricted posts fall into three broad categories:
Specified posts as set out in the Act
This includes chief officers, deputy chief officers, the monitoring officer and
chief finance officer. For South Beds District Council this also covers the
corporate service managers. This category also includes officers exercising
delegated powers.
Posts paid at or above a certain level
All posts where the remuneration level is or exceeds spinal column point 44.
This includes employees earning the equivalent level of spinal column point
44 (i.e. at South Beds District Council this includes employees who personally
receive the 7.5% pay supplement)
‘Sensitive' posts
If one or more of the following duties-related criteria applies to a post then it is
deemed to be politically restricted:
•
Giving advice on a regular basis to the authority itself, to any committee or
sub-committee of the authority or to any joint committee on which the
authority are represented; or where the authority is operating executive
arrangements (as South Beds District Council is), to the executive of the
authority; to any committee of that executive; or to any member of that
executive who is also a member of the authority.
•
Speaking on behalf of the authority on a regular basis to journalists or
broadcasters.
Keeping within the above Act definitions South Beds District Council have
developed four key criteria for assessing whether a post (and postholder) falls
into the sensitive post category:
1.
2.
3.
4.
giving advice to portfolio holders on a regular basis
regularly attending committee meetings giving advice to committee
in the individual’s own capacity
holding a specialist or lead adviser role
speaking regularly to journalists or broadcasters on behalf of the
authority
How are employees’ activities restricted?
The restrictions on political activity that apply to local government employees
in listed politically restricted posts are set out in the regulations.
Politically restricted employees will automatically be disqualified from standing
for or holding elected office and these restrictions are incorporated as terms in
the employee’s contract of employment under s.3 (LGO(PR)R 1990.
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This equates to debarring employees from standing for office as:
•
•
•
•
•
local councillors
MPs
MEPs
Members of the Welsh Assembly
Members of the Scottish Parliament
They are also restricted from:
•
acting as an election agent or sub-agent
•
being an officer of a political party, or a committee or sub-committee
member of a party, if this involves the person in general management
of, or acting on behalf of, the party or branch
•
canvassing on behalf of a political party or on behalf of a candidate for
election
•
speaking to the public at large with the apparent intention of affecting
support for a political party
•
publishing or causing to be published any written or artistic work if
intended to affect public support for a political party as opposed to, for
example, displaying a poster on private property.
The restrictions effectively limit the holders of politically restricted posts to
bare membership of political parties, with no active participation within the
party permitted.
Right of appeal to independent adjudicator
The independent adjudicator operates through the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister. The full address is: Local Government Sponsorship Division, ODPM,
Zone 5/A1, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU. (Tel: 020
7944 4262).
An employee does have a right of appeal in two of the politically restricted
categories stated above.
With posts paid at or above a certain level the postholder can appeal to the
independent adjudicator to be exempted from the list on the grounds that they
do not influence policy.
With sensitive posts the holder can appeal to be exempted from this list on the
grounds that the authority has wrongly applied the criteria.
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Human rights and politically restricted posts
The compatibility of political restrictions on local authority posts with an
individual’s rights under the European Convention of Human Rights was
tested in a 1998 European Court of Human Rights case.
In this case, the Court held that the political restrictions did not breach Article
10 (the right to freedom of expression) of Article 11 (the right to freedom of
association) of the applicant’s Convention rights, as the public has a right to
expect that those holding higher level local government office are politically
impartial.
Politically restricted posts and recruitment
When an existing post becomes vacant this is the opportunity to review the
requirements of the post including whether it falls into one of the politically
restricted categories listed above. When a new post is to be established this
element must also be considered. This should be done in liaison with Human
Resources to ensure the list of politically restricted posts is current.
The post profile
The post profile clearly states whether a post is politically restricted or not and
this profile is sent out to candidates who apply for the vacancy.
Human Resources will send out further information to applicants when a
vacant post is listed as politically restricted. This will be a summary of the
guidance, focussing on the political restrictions so that all candidates are
aware of the implications of being appointed to such a post.
Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment
The employee’s statement will include a term giving the reason why the post
is politically restricted and the employee will also receive a copy of these
guidelines.
Employees as elected members
Local government employees not holding politically restricted posts are free to
be elected as members of other authorities but not as members of their own
authority.
Paid time off
Section 10 of the 1989 LGHA restricts local authorities to giving employees a
maximum of 208 hours per year of paid leave for carrying out their duties as
elected members of other authorities.
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