All staff who work for the Council must follow the Officer Code and must be politically neutral when they are carrying out their work. However, some roles in the Council are politically restricted. Politically restricted roles are ones that also limit the post-holder’s political activity outside of work time to bare membership of a political party.
Politically restricted roles fall into two categories: specified posts and sensitive posts.
Specified posts are the most senior Council Officer positions.
A sensitive post is one where the post-holder either regularly gives advice to the Council and/or its committees, or where the post-holder regularly speaks to the media on behalf of the Council.
People in politically restricted posts cannot:
- Stand for office as a Local Authority Member (other than a Parish or Town Council)
- Stand for office as an MP
- Act as an election agent
- Be an officer or committee member of a political party
- Canvass on behalf of a political party or a person who seeks to be a candidate
- Speak to the public at large or publish any written or artistic work that could give the impression that they are advocating support for a political party
If a role is politically restricted, it will say so on the job description. If you are actively involved in party politics, you should check the job description of the role you are applying for, to see whether it is politically restricted. If it is, you will have to decide whether or not to apply, given the restrictions.
Politically restricted posts at Ryedale District Council
- The Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer)
- Programme Director for Economic Development, Business and Partnerships
- Head of Customer and Community Services
- Head of Communications, Technology and Business Transformation
- Head of Planning and Regulatory Services
- Head of Waste and Environmental Services
- Head of North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership
- Head of Corporate Governance and Monitoring Officer
- Corporate Governance Manager
- Senior Corporate Governance Officer
- Corporate Governance Officer
- Solicitor
- Communications Manager