Decision details

Section 223 of the Local Government Act 1972 provides that “Any member or officer of a local authority who is authorised by that authority to prosecute or defend on their behalf, or to appear on their behalf in, proceedings before a magistrates’ court shall be entitled to prosecute or defend or to appear in any such proceedings.”

The purpose and reason for this decision is for Bethany Marwood (Revenue Officer – Recovery) to be able to issue, defend and appear on behalf of the Council in proceedings before the Magistrates’ Court only in the exercise of the functions of her role.

To facilitate the discharge of Council functions both civil and criminal in the Magistrates’ Court only in so far as relevant to the role.

In accordance with Section 223 of the Local Government Act 1972 provides that “Any member or officer of a local authority who is authorised by that authority to prosecute or defend on their behalf, or to appear on their behalf in, proceedings before a magistrates’ court shall be entitled to prosecute or defend or to appear in any such proceedings and under section 2.35.5 of the Constitution the Head of Legal & Democratic Services hereby approves and delegates authority to Bethany Marwood (Revenue Officer – Recovery) the power to:-

Institute and conduct all civil and criminal proceedings by the Council in the Magistrates’ Court only in so far as relevant to her role.

Option 1 -
To approve the delegated authority as set out above

Option 2
To require the Service Manager to approve and conduct all Magistrates’ Court proceedings on behalf of the Revenues team. This would be time consuming and an inefficient use of council resources.

Recommend Option 1