Appointing two new depute leaders was a "competent" decision, says Argyll and Bute Council - despite claims that it broke the council’s own constitution.
The Oban Times had sight of an email sent by Councillor Andrew Vennard to fellow elected members saying the appointments of Councillors Robin Currie and Audrey Forest as deputes were "necessarily void".
In the email he said: "There is no provision in the Constitution for the sharing of an office by two or more councillors. There are no references in any part of the Constitution to the Depute Leader in the plural form."
Councillor Vennard methodically went through a number of Local Government and Local Governance regulations, and he pointed out that the leader and depute leader of councils are regulated by the Standing Orders and Constitutions of each council.
Referring to information stated in his email, he said: "In relation to the Constitution of Argyll and Bute Council, there are 17 references to ’Depute Leader’ in the Constitution, each of which refer to the Depute Leader as a singular noun.
None of those 17 references to Depute Leader are preceded by the word ’any’ he says, adding that in part A of the Constitution, the role of depute leader is ’expressly described’ as ’the’ Depute Leader.
"The use of the singular preposition ’the’ expressly excludes this office being held jointly by two or more parties. There are no interpretative provisions in the Constitution which provide that words that are expressed
in the singular form are to be construed as also including the plural. In the absence of any such provision, then words which are expressed in the singular form in the Constitution must be construed as only having a singular meaning."
And he concluded: "It is therefore clear that it is not competent in terms of the council’s constitution to make an
appointment of two or more Depute Leaders. There can be only one Depute Leader, and so an appointment of two Depute Leaders is necessarily void."
Councillor Vennard later told The Oban Times: "I do not see how it is competent for the council to appoint two Depute Leaders under the terms of the council’s existing Constitution, and to the best of my knowledge, this has never been done before in Argyll and Bute. I am therefore raising this issue with council officers."
This week Councillor Audrey Forrest said: "I believe the council’s appointments to be lawful and competent, and I believe Councillor Vennard has been advised of this."
Councillor Currie said he agreed with Councillor Forrest’s comment.
Council leader Jim Lynch said he had received correspondence on the matter from Councillor Vennard but Argyll and Bute Council Executive Director Douglas Hendry had "dealt" with the issue.
"The council, at their meeting on April 24, took a number of actions regarding political management arrangements, including the appointment of two Deputy Leaders. These decisions were competent," said a council spokesperson.
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