Council
The Council is currently
composed of 50 Councillors, who meet together as The Council. The
Council meet together approximately every two months and the public
can generally attend and ask questions.
At Council, Councillors decide
the council's overall policies and set the budget each year. The
Council appoints the Leader, Deputy Leader and the
Cabinet.
The Council also appoints
Councillors to its Scrutiny Committees, Regulatory and other
committees. The Scrutiny committees are
the primary means of holding the Cabinet to account, and they, in
turn report direct to the Council. The Mayor chairs the meetings of
Council and acts as a non-political Civic Head.
Members of the Public asking Questions at Council
Meetings
Any person can ask a question
of the Leader, Members of the Cabinet, or the Chair of a Committee
at Ordinary, Extraordinary and Special Meetings of the
Council.
A question may only be asked if
24 hours’ notice has been given by delivering the question in
writing or by e-mail to Democratic Services ([email protected])
no later than 6 p.m. on the day before the day of the
meeting.
Each question must be
accompanied by the name and address of the questioner and must name
the Member of the Council to whom it is to be put. Questions will
be asked in the order notice of them was received, except that the
Mayor may group together similar questions.
The Assistant Director, Law and
Governance may reject a question if it :-
(a)
Is not about a matter for which the Local Authority has a
responsibility or which affects the Borough;
(b)
Is defamatory (or potentially so), frivolous or
offensive;
(c)
Is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a
meeting of the Council in the past six months; or
(d)
Requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt
information.
Asking your Question at the Meeting
The Mayor will invite the
questioner to come forward and ask the question of the Member named
in the notice.
If a questioner who has
submitted a question is unable to attend, they may ask the Mayor to
put the question on their behalf. The Mayor may decide to ask the
question on the questioner’s behalf; indicate that a written
reply will be provided; or decide, in the absence of the
questioner, that the question will not be dealt with.
A questioner who has attended
and put a question in person may also put one Supplementary
Question without Notice to the Member who has replied to his or her
original question. A Supplementary Question must arise directly out
of the original question or the reply received. The Mayor may
reject a Supplementary Question on any of the grounds set out
above.