To determine whether the Council will appoint Political Advisors under the provisions of Section 9 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 for the duration of the current administration and if so to agree the arrangements for such appointments.

The Council considered the report of the Corporate Director, Governance and Monitoring Officer (circulated in a supplementary agenda) regarding the appointment of Political Advisors.

The recommendations were put to the vote and was agreed. Accordingly it was:

RESOLVED

1.         That the Council agree to re-establish for the duration of the current administration, posts of political assistant (known as Political Advisors) to those political groups that quality for such a post in accordance with Section 9 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

2.         That in order to contract the total cost of the posts within the budget, this should be on the basis of 1.0 FTE post for the Labour Group and 0.20 FTE for the Conservative Group.