The Local Government (Staff Transfer Schemes) Order 1973

Article 3(2)

SCHEDULE PARAGRAPH 25 OF TRANSFER AND PROTECTION OF STAFF MEMORANDUM

25.  The general principles under which staff will be transferred are as follows:—

(a) any officer employed upon a function(1) which, within the area of his existing authority, will on and after the appointed day be the statutory responsibility only of a county council (e.g. education or social services in a non-metropolitan county) and who is

(i) employed wholly or mainly(2) in premises which are to be used after that date for the purposes of the discharge of its functions by a county council (e.g. a school or area social services office in the examples referred to) or

(ii) operating wholly or mainly from such premises (e.g. a highways depot) or

(iii) being otherwise employed wholly, or substantially so(3) upon that function

will be transferred to the employment of the new county council whose area will include that of his existing authority.

(b) similarly, any officer employed upon a function which, within the area of his existing authority will on and after the appointed day be the statutory responsibility only of a district council (e.g. housing) will, according to similar criteria, be transferred to the employment of the new district council whose area will include that of his existing authority.

Where such an officer is employed by an existing county council the district council to which he will transfer should be determined, where possible, according to the area of the county with which his work is concerned.

If this is impracticable because his work is not related specifically to the area of any of the new districts, he will be transferred to such new district council as may be determined by the existing county council in consultation with the new district councils. In such circumstances the views of the officer concerned will be particularly relevant and should be sought at the earliest opportunity.

(c) Headquarters or other staff of existing authorities who do not fall within the categories of staff referred to at (a) or (b) above will be transferred as follows:

• County council staff—to the new county council for that area

• All other authorities—to the new district council within whose area the existing authority's area will be included.

(1)

“Employed upon functions” covers not only operational and administrative staff employed in a functional service or department—for example education—but also staff in central common service departments employed in connection with particular functions—for example architects, maintenance staff, accountants, committee clerks and assistant solicitors employed in connection with education functions . The definition of “function” in the memorandum accompanying Department of the Environment Circular 78/73 (Welsh Office Circular 160/73), dealing with the transfer of property, will apply equally to this memorandum.

(2)

The phrase “wholly or mainly” is intended, in this connection, to include all staff more than half of whose work is in or from such premises.

(3)

“Wholly or substantially so” relates to staff whose work is not necessarily based on particular operational premises and applies where the staff concerned are working not merely for more than half of their time, but for the whole or very nearly the whole of their time upon the function concerned. This distinction, which has been drawn in earlier reorganisations, e.g. in London and in the West Midlands, is based upon the thought that if an officer is employed in or from a “functional” building, there is a presumption that that is the function to which his employment is directly linked. Where that presumption is absent, for example where an officer works at headquarters the proposition is that he must work full time, or very nearly full time upon a particular function if that is to be the factor determining his future employing authority.