A NEW monitoring officer has been appointed for Merthyr Tydfil council.
Geraint Morgan was appointed to the role at a special full council meeting on Thursday, May 22.
Also now head of legal at the council he replaces the previous monitoring officer and head of legal Carys Kennedy.
Over recent weeks the chief executive and director of governance and resources have been recruiting and appointing a new head of legal.
Mr Morgan accepted the offer to undertake the responsibilities and duties of the council’s head of legal from May 23.
The appointment of the monitoring officer is a responsibility of full council and so in order to confirm the head of legal as the monitoring officer full council needed to make the appointment following a process which saw three of five applicants invited for interview.
The monitoring officer helps to maintain the constitution, ensure lawfulness and fairness of decision-making, supports the standards committee, receives and acts on reports from the ombudsman, conducts investigations, ensures decisions and reasons for decisions are made publicly available as soon as possible, provides advice to councillors, and advises whether cabinet decisions are within the budget and policy framework.
The chief executive or chief finance officer cannot be the monitoring officer.
