South Yorkshire Governance

South Yorkshire Governance

The South Yorkshire Joint Authorities Governance Unit is a department of Barnsley MBC's Legal and Governance Directorate. Officers provide independent and impartial support and advice to:

  • South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority
  • South Yorkshire Police & Crime Panel
  • Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority
  • Doncaster Sheffield Airport Consultative Committee
  • Safer Roads Partnership
  • Yorkshire Wildlife Park, South Yorkshire Pensions Authority and Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (BCPP)

This support includes governance, service improvement, policy and scrutiny advice to ensure our clients meet their expectations of good governance. 

What we do

The Joint Authorities Governance Unit is a department of Barnsley MBC's Legal and Governance Directorate. Officers provide support services to a number of organisations across South Yorkshire and the Sheffield City Region.

Our History

The Joint Authorities Governance Unit was created following the dissolution of the South Yorkshire Joint Secretariat as part of a number of changes to how local authority governance duties are discharged across South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire Joint Secretariat (SYJS and the Secretariat) was established in 1986 following the closure of the South Yorkshire County Council. Under an agreement entered into by the four District Councils within South Yorkshire, SYJS became a department of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and the organisation was subject to Barnsley Councils conditions of service and employment policies. It was set up to provide support services to the sub-regional bodies such as Police, Fire & Rescue, Pensions and Transport and has expanded over the years to include support for other organisations.

Who's involved

  • Shokat Lal
    Executive Director (Core Services)

  • Martin McCarthy
    Service Director and Deputy Clerk

  • Carol Tague
    Head of Governance

  • Gill Richards
    Senior Democratic Services Officer

  • Mel McCoole
    Senior Democratic Services Officer

  • Linda Noble
    Service Improvement and Scrutiny Officer

  • Andrew Shirt
    Senior Democratic Services Officer

  • Neil Copley
    Executive Director - Finance Section 151 Officer (FRA, Pensions, Police and Crime Panel)

SYJA.PNG



Police Authority archived material

Find out more about our archived South Yorkshire Police authority document.

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Watch our meetings online

Access and watch our meeting archives online.

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