Who makes the decisions?
The Council operates a style of governance similar to the Parliamentary style.
All 63 elected councillors meet together
as the full Council. They make key decisions on the Council's future, policies
and strategies as well as setting the budget each year and the level of Council
Tax. The Council appoints a Leader of the Council and a Cabinet, Overview
and Scrutiny Committees, Regulatory Committees, a Standards
Committee and other advisory and consultative bodies.
Leader and Cabinet
The Leader and Cabinet are at the heart of the day-to-day decision-making
process. They have considerable freedom and responsibilities but operate within
an overall framework set by the full Council. The Cabinet is made up of the Leader
of the Council and up to 9 other Members of the Council. The Leader of the Council
provides overall leadership to the Council.
Cabinet members each have a "portfolio", like government ministers, and these
portfolios cover all areas of the Council.
The Cabinet meets at least once a month and takes decisions within a framework
of policies and the budget set by the full Council.
Overview
and Scrutiny Committees
The Leader and Cabinet have quite far-reaching powers and so mechanisms have
been put in place to check on what they do. Their decisions will be scrutinised
by the Councillors who are not in the Cabinet.
There are seven Overview and Scrutiny
Committees covering the themes mentioned above, which review Cabinet decisions
and policies. Click on the link for further information.
Regulatory Committees
There are some areas where Committees of the Council make decisions. These
are mostly "regulatory" matters, where applications are made and permissions
granted.
Five Regulatory Committees are responsible for defined activities.
Planning Control Committee
Councillor John Fuller
Planning Control Committee Chairman
General Purposes Committee
Councillor Nigel Betts
General Purposes Committee Chairman
Pensions Committee
Councillor Don Massey
Pensions Committee Chairman
Appeals Committee
Councillor Richard Gillespie
Appeals Committee Chairman
Licensing Committee
Councillor Mike Slaughter
Licensing Committee Chairman
Standards Committee
There is also a Standards Committee, which ensures that all Councillors maintain
high standards of conduct. It will also oversee the Employee code of Conduct.
Mr R Lomas
Standards Committee Chairman
Local consultative forums
Listening to local views is a priority for the Council. Forums are an important
point of contact and can present local views to councillors.
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