Section 151 Officer and Section 114 Notice
Dear Ashford Borough Council,
Can you tell me the name of the Council's Section 151 Officer? Has the 151 officer considered issuing a Section 114 Notice.
The attached may be of assistance,
Kent County Council finance officer Zena Cooke takes leave of absence
Simon Finlay, Local Democracy Reporter 23 January 2024
One of Kent County Council’s most senior and highest paid officials has taken a sudden and unexpected leave of absence from her role.
Zena Cooke, corporate director for finance and procurement, is understood to be still working for the authority but her deputy John Betts has now stepped into the position.
Her role carries a salary of up to £155,000 a year, according to KCC bandings.
Conservative KCC leader Roger Gough read a short statement to his group members yesterday morning (Jan 22) at County Hall. Cllr Gough gave no reason for Ms Cooke’s absence.
Ms Cooke’s job, which she has held for more than five years, is significant because she also acts as the Section 151 officer at KCC.
Her absence was noted at a key KCC meeting last week.
By law, the holder can issue a Section 114 notice, declaring the council effectively bankrupt if it cannot meet its statutory duties with the funding provided by central government.
One backbencher told LDRS: “No idea what’s going on. There are a lot of rumours now circulating, of course, none of which I would give any credence to.”
‘Zena’s role is the toughest in local government at the best of times and these are the hardest of times...’
Thanet Labour county councillor Barry Lewis said: “News to me - but it sounds serious.”
The council said: “KCC is not commenting on this.”
Ms Cooke has worked in local government for more than three decades, including as Director of Resources at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where she was the Section 151 officer.
Before that, she was a senior official at Maidstone Borough Council, according to her LinkedIn account.
KCC faces having to make drastic cutbacks as it scrambles to find tens of millions of pounds of savings or face having to issue a section 114 notice.
Another Tory backbencher said: “Zena’s role is the toughest in local government at the best of times and these are the hardest of times - there are enormous pressures from all sides.
“She’s uber experienced and has been in post for a long time. But no one will say anything but then that’s normal for most Conservative backbenchers these days.”
Yours faithfully,
Fergus Wilson
Thank you for submitting an Information request.
Your email will be processed by the Freedom of Information and Data
Protection team.
We endeavour to respond to all Freedom of Information / Environmental
Information requests within 20 working days. If we require anything
further from you we will be in touch.
We are a district council which provides services to residents in Ashford,
Tenterden and a large network of surrounding villages.
Our services include keeping the streets clean and collecting rubbish,
renting out social housing (council houses and flats), providing leisure
facilities and play areas and processing council tax, business rates and
housing benefits. We deal with local planning applications, issue licenses
for taxis and licensed premises, look after parks and open spaces, and
parking around our borough.
Please note - services including primary and secondary education, roads,
pavements and street lighting, libraries and adult education, social
services and care, fall outside our service area and are provided by Kent
County Council. If your request falls into one of these categories please
accept this acknowledgment as our response.
You may wish to redirect your request to Kent County Council’s Freedom of
Information team who can be contacted at:
· Email [1][email address]
· Write to Information Resilience and Transparency Team, Kent
County Council, Room 2.87, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14
1XQ
If your request relates to any of the above KCC matters but you
nonetheless consider it is within our remit for an exceptional reason
please contact us to discuss the matter further.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
Ashford Borough Council
Data Protection - Ashford Borough Council is the data controller for any
personal information collected during the process of making an information
request. Your information will be used to administrate your request, and
processing is being conducted relying upon the legal obligation placed
upon the council by either the Freedom of Information or Environmental
Information Regulations. Your data may be shared with other departments
within the council for the purpose of responding to your request. We will
not share your information with any third parties unless we are required
or permitted to do so by law. Your information will be retained along with
your request for 4yrs.
For more information about your data protection rights please see the
Council’s data protection pages which can be found at
[2]www.ashford.gov.uk or contact the Data Protection Officer at, The Data
Protection Officer, Ashford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Tannery Lane,
Ashford TN23 1PL.
[4][IMG]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. file:///tmp/www.ashford.gov.uk
3. https://www.ashford.gov.uk/transparency/...
4. https://www.change.org/p/bring-back-euro...
Dear Ashford Borough Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Ashford Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Section 151 Officer and Section 114 Notice'.
Thank you for your response. My reference to KCC was an illustration. Just about all Councils have a financial difficulty preventing the desired services being given to customers.
Thank you for pointing out I can refer to KCC but I require an ABC response if you would be so kind.
Yours sincerely,
Fergus Wilson
Dear Ashford Borough Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Ashford Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Section 151 Officer and Section 114 Notice'.
On 22nd February, 2024 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council replied as follows:-
Dear Mr Wilson,
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request, please see below.
The name of the council's Section 151 officer is Sharon Shelton.
Has the 151 Officer considered issuing a Section 114 Notice? No she hasn't considered issuing a s114 notice
My question is if TMBC can give a straight forward no nonsense answer the why cannot ABC do so?
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
Fergus Wilson
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now