Cornwall Council paying £1k a day for agency staff member

Cornwall Council has to have a monitoring office in place at all times

Cornwall Council is paying almost £1,000 a day to an agency for an interim member of staff after its monitoring officer left for Australia.

The authority needed someone in post while finding a permanent officer, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council said a replacement would probably have to serve three months' notice before taking the job, but would be in place by the end of December.

The council has to have a designated monitoring officer in place.

Its constitution states it cannot leave the post empty - even while recruiting a new officer.

The role of monitoring officer includes:

• Maintaining the council's constitution

• Ensuring lawfulness and fairness of decision-making

• Supporting the Standards Committee

• Conducting investigations

• Advising whether cabinet decisions are within the Budget and Policy Framework

• Also being a monitoring officer and for parish, town and city councils in Cornwall, plus advising them

• Maintaining and updating the Register of Members' Interests

The council is understood to be paying the employment agency it uses for temporary staff "just over £990" a day, although this is not the wage being paid to the officer.

Melanie O'Sullivan left her post in August 24 after previously announcing at a council meeting that she was relocating.

It is not known how much notice she was required to serve after announcing her decision.

Final interviews for the role are expected to be held in October.

Cornwall Council has said the benchmarked rate for a monitoring officer, who has to be a qualified and experienced lawyer, would be £950 to £1,500 a day.

The salary for the permanent officer is expected to be up to £115,000.