Local government, decision making Flashcards
How are councils run?
Councils are political organisations and their arrangements for decision-making is known as their “governance”.
What three different models are there for decision making?
Leader and Cabinet (executive model)
Mayor and Cabinet (executive model)
Committee system (fewer councils are using this system now)
What is a standing order?
Standing orders regulate the conduct a local authority and how it makes decisions.
-drawn up by each local authority and contained within the council’s constitution – which is available online.
Standing orders cover –
Decision-making style – executive model or
committee
-frequency of meetings
The number of councillors who must be present
for a decision
-procedure in meetings
Time limits for debate
Voting procedure
Composition and powers of the executive and of committees.
What types of council meetings are there?
Full council- attended by all councillors. Usually takes place about every eight weeks and is usually chaired by the chairman/mayor of the council.
Committee meetings –
made up of a small number of councillors, reflecting the political make- up of the council.
They either make recommendations to the full council or make decisions (resolve) items.
They are often focused on one particular area – like planning.
Cabinet meetings – usually held by councils with an executive model of governance.
It is a meeting of the executive and generally just contains members of the majority party.
-making many of the major decisions for councils operating this model.
Explain the leader and cabinet (executive model)
The full council elects a leader who then appoints and chairs the Cabinet. The leader is usually the leader of the majority party on the council (a bit like our Prime Ministerial system).
Cabinets are typically made up of no more than 10 councillors, usually from the majority party (or coalition).
Each Cabinet member has a specific area of responsibility or “portfolio” – e.g. transport, housing, children and young people.
Decisions are usually taken by the Cabinet, small-sub groups or individual Cabinet members.
Key decisions must be made in public – those which are significant in terms of spending/impact.
Explain the mayor and cabinet (executive model)
The mayor is elected by voters.
Cabinet chosen by the mayor from the council.
They may, or may not, be a member of the majority party on the council.
The mayor is a key policy maker – and a political role.
The Cabinet operates in a similar way to the Cabinet in the leader & Cabinet model.
What is the scrutiny?
Scrutiny – the job of councillors outside the executive is to scrutinise the executive. They represent their electorate and approve prescribed functions – decisions the Government has decided must be decided by the full council.
All principal local authorities must have at least one scrutiny committee.
They reflect the political balance of the authority.
They review decisions/policies and can gather evidence on issues affecting local people and makes recommendations based on its findings
What is the committee system?
-usually those with a population lower than 85,000
-councillors from all parties take part in decision making not just those from the majority party
-Committees consist of councillors chosen by their colleagues and generally reflect the political make-up of the council.
Committees have two main roles –
-To do prep work and make recommendations to the full council
- To make decisions (resolve an item) without referral to the full
council under delegated powers.
➢ Most councils using the committee system have an “elite” committee
called the policy and resources committee (or similar) which decides on general policy, finance and personnel allocations and plays a key role in setting budgets.
This committee is usually made up of the chairs of other committees, leading opposition councillors and chaired by the leader of the council.
-full council meetings are usually held every 6-8 weeks, chaired by the
mayor or chairman of the council.
-considers recommendations from committees, accepts reports,
questions committee chairs, gives councillors the chance to raise issues and sets the council tax and budgets.
Pros and cons of executive model and committee system
Executive model has more efficient-decision-making, transparency, accountability
and more time to work on behalf of constituents.
It has inefficient scrutiny, remote decision making and divisive
Committee system: specialisation, more time efficiency, time for thought, more informal.
Cons more time-wasting, lack of clarity about decision-making and reduces influence of full council
Rules surrounding attending meetings
Anyone can attend a council meeting although they may not be able to speak on it.
Journalists and members of the public have the right to visit council offices to inspect agendas, minutes and relevant
documents relating to decisions (in reality a lot of these are published online or can be requested).
Journalists also have rights to see financial information – much is online as there is a duty on local authorities to publish it.
The media has the right to attend full council, cabinet, committee and sub-committee meetings, but can be excluded if an item is confidential or exempt. A confidential item is one that contains secret information (i.e. from government departments) or for legal reasons.
Exempt items require a motion to be proposed and seconded before a vote to exclude is taken. These items could be about an individual, sensitive financial or business information, or related to legal proceedings.
Meetings can be divided into “open” and “closed” but occasionally the media and public may be excluded for individual items that require urgent consideration during the open section.
In 2014, the government published a new order giving journalists the right to film and tweet from council meetings.
Journalists reporting on council meetings are usually protected by qualified privilege
What are the different types of mayors?
The mayor is elected using a preferential voting system which means each candidates put in order of preference for a four-year term.
The mayor is a key policy decision-maker, not just a figurehead and it is a political role.
In addition to the 13 elected mayors are the metro mayors leading combined authorities.
The Mayor of London is also elected, but under different
legislation.
Boroughs and cities often have ceremonial mayors or even
lord mayors – do not confuse them with elected mayors!
Ceremonial mayors are elected for a one-year term by their fellow councillors.
It is an honour, usually recognising long service and is a ceremonial post to represent the community.
The role is non-party political and the mayor usually chairs full meetings, rules on points of order and ensures fair play.
County councils, district councils and even parish councils may
have chairmen – these play the same role as a mayor.
Explain the council leader
All local authorities other than those with elected mayors will have a council leader.
The leader is the chair of the Cabinet and usually leads in terms of policy.
The role is political.
All authorities, including those using an executive model, will have at least some committees and these committees will have a chair.
What is a councillor?
A councillor is a local politician selected to decide on policy. There is approximately 17,000 councillors in the UK. Councillors are responsible for three key roles: Political (public service and social change) Representative (of the electorate in their ward/area) Executive (collective responsibility/accountability)
How are councillors selected?
The majority of councillors are elected as representatives of the major parties and chosen by their local parties as candidates.
Some councillors stand for election independently.
Similar to MPS, a political party with over 50% of seats will control the council. If there is no party that gets over 50% of seats, a council will have no overall control called a hung council.
What qualifications do you need to stand as a councillor?
over 18, British or common wealth citizen, registered to vote, mustn’t have been sentenced to prison for three months in the last 5 years, can’t work for relevant council.
