How the Council Works
The Council is a democratically elected body which provides
a range of statutory and non-statutory services for its
residents. Key front line services include refuse and
recycling collections, street cleansing and grounds
maintenance. A full list of services provided by the Council
can be found in the A to Z of
services. The Corporate
Plan sets out the Council's priorities.
The Council is the lower tier authority in a two tier system of
local government. The upper tier authority for the Borough of
Broxbourne is Hertfordshire County Council. The
services provided by Hertfordshire
County Council include highways, schools, adult and
childrens social services and trading standards.
How the Council Works
The Council operates a Leader-Cabinet form of
decision making. Under this system, the Council (the assembly of
all elected Councillors), delegates executive (decision-making)
authority to a core group of Councillors, known as the Cabinet. The
Cabinet comprises the Leader of the Council and between two and
nine other members of the Council.
Leader of the Council
The Council elects a Leader from among
its members. Once elected, the Leader will hold this position for
four years, or until he/she is no longer a Councillor. The Leader
of the Council appoints the Cabinet, devises the scheme of
delegation (which decisions can be made by whom) and, through the
cabinet, provides overall strategic and corporate direction for the
Council.
Cabinet
The Cabinet is the part of the Council
which is responsible for most day-to-day decisions. It is made up
of the Leader, who is appointed by the Council, and between 2 and 9
councillors whom he/she appoints. Each member of the Cabinet is
allocated a specific ‘portfolio’: a set of priorities and services
over which he/she has particular expertise and influence. When
major decisions are to be discussed or made, these are published in
the Cabinet Forward Plan in so
far as they can be anticipated. If these major decisions are to be
discussed with council officers at a meeting of the Cabinet, this
will generally be open for the public to attend, except where
personal or confidential matters are being discussed. The Cabinet
has to make decisions which are in line with the Council’s overall
policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is
outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to
the Council as a whole to decide. The Cabinet meets around eight times per year.
Scrutiny Committee
The Council also appoints a body of
Councillors, called the Scrutiny
Committee, to support the work of the Cabinet and the
Council as a whole. The Scrutiny Committee has no
executive authority; Its work involves formulating and
developing policy proposals which it can then submit to the Cabinet
for consideration. To aid its work in policy
formulation, the Scrutiny Committee can, amongst other things,
conduct independent research, request attendance of Cabinet
members, officers or independent experts, and establish
sub-committees or working parties to investigate particular issues
in detail. The Scrutiny Committee can also comment on the decisions
made by the Cabinet. In exceptional circumstances the Scrutiny
Committee can ‘call in’ (conduct a review of) a decision of the
Cabinet. When a decision has been called in it cannot be
implemented until the Scrutiny Committee has concluded its review,
or the timeframe for such a review has elapsed. No members of the
Cabinet can also be members of the Scrutiny Committee.
Regulatory Committees
In addition to the Cabinet and Scrutiny
Committee, the Council appoints a number of other committees to
make decisions which, under law, cannot be made by the Cabinet.
They include the Planning and
Regulatory Committee, Audit
Committee and the Standards
Committee. Additionally, some decisions, such as overall
policy and budget setting, can only be made by the Council as a
whole.
Committee System – operating before
May 2011
Prior to May 2011, the Council operated a
committee system of decision making, whereby the majority of
decisions were made by several committees which exercised executive
authority delegated by the Council.
Agendas and
minutes of meetings under the committee system.