3. Impartiality of officers of the council
As a councillor:
3.1
- I do not compromise, or attempt to compromise, the impartiality of anyone who works for, or on behalf of, the local authority
Officers work for the local authority as a whole and must be politically neutral (unless they are political assistants). They should not be coerced or persuaded to act in a way that would undermine their neutrality. You can question officers in order to understand, for example, their reasons for proposing to act in a particular way, or the content of a report that they have written. However, you must not try and force them to act differently, change their advice, or alter the content of that report, if doing so would prejudice their professional integrity.