How councils are structured

In recent years Councils have modernised their management arrangements. The long-standing committee systems (remember the social services committee and the education committee?) have been replaced with executive governance models loosely based on the cabinet system of government. In the cabinet-style executive (a small group consisting of the council leader and councillors with specific portfolio responsibilities such as social services and education), decisions are made that get voted on by full council. Clearly the dominant political party are likely to get their direction and policy choices endorsed due to voting along party lines.

In total 20 councils have cabinets with a leader in place. The remaining 2 councils (Powys and Gwynedd) are run by a politically balanced executive board, but again this is a smaller group of councillors, just like the the cabinet in the other 20 areas. There are extensive staff structures in every authority headed by a chief executive, who works with other senior officers on day-to-day business and decision-making.

So, the cabinet or board is the power-base of any council and the councillors who are cabinet or board members are obviously high-profile and powerful in terms of local politics. However, backbench councillors are also important in terms of how councils operate. They may sit on the regulatory committees that councils must have, such as licensing and development control. Or they may be involved in the scrutiny function, whereby cabinet or the board are held to account for their decisions and policies and services are examined with a view to improving them. Scrutiny is an extremely important function within local authorities and something that third sector organisations have an opportunity to engage with. Click here to find out more about scrutiny.

To find out more about how your own council is structured, visit their website.