Local Government Decision-Making/Council Finance

Question 1

List the Five Types of Council Meetings.
(Leaders, Mayors & Executive Power Topic)

Answer 1

Full Council Meeting
Committee Meetings
Sub-Committee Meetings
Cabinet Meetings
Scrutiny Committees

Question 2

Explain the Five Types of Council Meetings.

Answer 2

Full Council Meeting- All councillors attend once every eight weeks- the Mayor or Council Chairman facilitates it.

Committee meetings- little councillor meetings in policy areas (economy, planning, education, transport). Make recommendations or resolve items/ make decisions.

Sub-committee meetings- specialist areas of policy. They make recommendations to full committees.

Cabinet meetings- meetings of the executive, usually the majority party. Major decisions made.

Scrutiny committees- Backbench councillors examine the cabinet decisions & refer them back to cabinet for further debate.

Question 3

Name the Two Local Government Decision Making Styles.

Answer 3

Committee Style (Traditional System, 1888-2000)
Executive Style (Introduced by Local Government Act 2000)

Question 4

What are the other roles of a Full Council Meeting?
(Committee Style Decision Making)

Answer 4

Meeting Roles-
Accept, amend, reject or refer back recommendations made by the committees
Accept reports from committees and officers
Question committee chairs
Councillors raise concerns of constituents
Give the councillors the opportunity for debates
Approve budget –set council tax / precept

Question 5

List Four Advantages of the Committee System

Answer 5

1) Specialisation–councillors can acquire expertise by learning about the work of one or two committees
2) Efficiency–easier for a small group to make decisions
3) Time for thought–recommendations can be changed
4) Informal atmosphere –better for decision-making

Question 6

List Three Disadvantages of the Committee System

Answer 6

1) Decentralisation of power –makes it difficult to have common policies
2) Time wasting / duplication –leads to slow decision-making
3) Unclear who made decisions–leads to a lack of answerability

Question 7

What is Executive Style Decision Making?

Answer 7

The Mayor makes the main Policy Decisions & appoints Two or more Councillors.
The Electorate choose the Mayor.
Or
The leader of the Council (Leader of Majority Party) makes the decisions & Appoints two or more councillors.
(Similar to Prime Ministerial System In Central Government & preferred- Most Councils choose this Cabinet style model).