Decisions-Politics
Things don’t just happen in Staffordshire
So how does it all work – how are decisions made – where’s the challenge and check ‘n’ balance?
It’s all about politics and works in a similar way to how it works nationally in Parliament and in Government but without the power to make statutory laws or raise taxes (other than council tax)…
County Council works in a similar way to Parliament…
County Council is made up of 62 County Councillors who each represent a Division. Between 10,000 & 13,000 people live in each Division and it’s those constituents who elect their County Councillor to send to Stafford.
County Council is the ultimate decision maker and therefore the political party with a majority in the County Chamber makes the decisions and appoints a Leader who then appoints 9 CCs to make a Cabinet.
All County Councillors either sit on Scrutiny Committees or in the Cabinet and one CC is voted to be Chairman of the County who for their term of office tries to put party politics to one side to preside over the County Chamber in a by-partisan way… similar to the Speaker of Parliament.
County Council votes on a Budget proposed by Cabinet which sets out how much money is available to spend and how much council tax Staffordshire people will pay. About 80% of council tax bills is set by County Council.
County Council delgates almost everything to Cabinet within a wide parameter but there are mechanisms for Cabinet decisions to be taken back to full County Council for cross-party debate.
County Cabinet is broadly the same as the Cabinet nationally…
The County Cabinet is made up of the County Leader who, like the Prime Minister, is nominated by the political party in power and appointed by a vote in the County Chamber.
The party in power has the majority and unless something unprecidented happens their nomination becomes Leader. The Leader selects other County Councillors to make up a Cabinet. Currently, the Cabinet is made up of ten CCs.
The Cabinet Members are the same as Ministers nationally. Each one has the responsibility for particular service areas and policy making in relation to their responsibilities.
Ultimate responsibility sits with each Cabinet Member for everything that happens in their Department. Authority for decision making is delegated from County Council to the Leader and Cabinet and then from there to individual Cabinet Members.
In the bigger Departments the Cabinet Member can be responsible for hundreds of millions of pounds. Cabinet Members regularly appear before cross party Scrutiny Committees and often also answer questions from all political parties in the County Chamber.
Cabinet Members work between 40 and 60 hours each week in their role depending on the size and complexity of their Department. They also have the same responsibilities as all CCs in relation to working for their constituents locally in the part of Staffordshire they represent.
County Scrutiny Committees are like Select Committes…
The various Scrutiny Committees are vital as the check and balance to the Executive’s (Cabinet) power. Every non-Executive County Councillor from all the political parties sits on Scrutiny Committees which each specialise in a particular area of policy or service.
The same as on Parliamentary Select Committees the members question Cabinet Members on decisions and policy they make and can contribute to policy development.
Thay cannot change or overturn the decisions of Cabinet Members but they can apply pressure to think again. Scrutiny Committees are where opposition County Councillors can really hold the political party in power to account but often it is committee members from the party in power who are equally if not more challenging.
County Scrutiny Committees have the power to call and question all parts of the public sector in Staffordshire and regularly question the most senior chief executives from organisations that make up the NHS and others.
They also hold inquiries into complex issues which can include calling witnesses from commercial bodies and experts in the field to help them produce reports and recommendations. The Health Scrutiny Committee has additional powers.
Officers or officials of County Council are a local Civil Service…
This is a Corps of people who either support County Councillors in their roles in different parts of the County Council or deliver frontline services across Staffordshire. More than 30,000 people are employed by the County Council.
Each Cabinet Member is supported by a senior official in their Department and a team of professionals who manage business and help to develop and deliver policy.
Similar to the Civil Service nationally, they are ‘the constant’ as political regimes change and make sure that things keep going.
