How Council decisions are made
The Council operates Leader and Cabinet style 'executive arrangements'.
This means that the responsibility for decision making on most services such as education, highways, housing, leisure, libraries, parking, refuse collection, street cleansing and social services now rests with Cabinet.
The full 58-member Council remains the forum where the Council's Budget and Policy Framework are set. Councillors meet to debate issues of importance and question the Leader, Cabinet Members and committee chairs.
Once the Budget and Policy Framework is agreed by Council, the Cabinet does not have to refer any of its proposed decisions to Council for approval if they remain within the overall framework.
Full details of the arrangements are contained in the Council's Constitution.
Cabinet meetings
Cabinet comprises the Leader of the Council and seven other lead members. Each of the Cabinet Members is responsible for a 'remit' covering particular Council services and policy areas.
These are:
- Voluntary Sector, Business Engagement, and Culture
- Housing
- Children
- Health
- Finance
- Environment
- Transport
It meets approximately every five to six weeks. View Cabinet meeting dates.
At its meetings, Cabinet mostly considers Key Decisions. In addition, Cabinet also considers:
- Policy updates
- Responses to consultations
- Recommendations from Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs)
- Reports with political or strategic sensitivity
- Performance monitoring
The decisions taken by Cabinet are published in a Statement of Decisions the day after the meeting.
Information on upcoming key decisions and policies are published monthly and is known as the Forward Plan.
Overview and Scrutiny Committees
Six Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs) and one OSC sub-committee have been appointed with a role to review and scrutinise decisions made or actions taken or proposed to be by Cabinet, assist with the development of policy, and to make recommendations to the Cabinet as required.
- Children’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Grants Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee
- Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee
The Health Committee's remit also covers the operation of health services and consultation on proposals for development by NHS bodies.
The Health and Wellbeing Board is a partnership body between the Council and the health sector. The Council may delegate to it decisions on joint initiatives and services.
Regulatory committees
Some functions are not the responsibility of Cabinet but remain the responsibility of the Council. The Council then delegates all but the most important decisions to the various committees.
These 'Regulatory' functions are dealt with by the:
- Licensing Committee
- Regulatory Licensing Committee
- Planning Applications Committee
- General Purposes Committee
- Joint Pensions Committee
- Audit Committee
- Standards Committee (which deals with the conduct of Council members)
By law, committees must be politically balanced.
The political groups are allocated seats in the same proportion as they are represented on the Council as a whole.
Delegated decisions
Directors of Council departments have a delegated authority to take decisions to operate Council services on a day-to-day basis without reference to Councillors.
In addition, there are special arrangements where a decision is required urgently or is routine. In these circumstances, Executive Directors can take a decision even in cases which would normally require a report to a committee and/or the Executive, so long as they have consulted the relevant leading Councillors in advance.