About
Since 2001 the council has operated under an Executive and Leader system, and since 2007 the “strong Leader” model. The Executive, comprising the Leader, the Cabinet and certain other parts of the Council’s decision-making machinery, is the part of the council which is responsible for most day-to-day decisions. The Cabinet is made up of the Council Leader and up to nine other Cabinet Members. These Cabinet Members are also known as Portfolio Holders and they are each responsible for specific functions and/or service areas (known as Portfolios). Unless the Leader decides otherwise, the Cabinet is responsible for;
· any Executive functions or decisions which involve a recommendation to the Council including budget and policy proposals.
· making key decisions on any matter in the Schedule of Key Decisions and included in the budget. The Cabinet also receives and responds to reports to the Cabinet (Executive) from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance (Section 151) Officer; and recommendations from Council. General responsibilities The general responsibilities of all Cabinet Members include:
To identify and encourage public participation and consultation ensuring effective communication of council policies and strategies (as contained in the Corporate Plan and other plans) to all members of the council, staff, residents of the borough, partners and stakeholders To promote the objectives of the council as contained in the Corporate Plan To encourage external organisations to work in partnership with the council To develop new policies consistent with the overall strategic approach of the council To encourage an inclusive approach to the development of new or revised policies ensuring that other sections of the council's structure and individual members are able to contribute To establish targets and monitor performance in relation to the council's policies and strategies To speak on behalf of the council To represent the council on relevant external bodies to which they are appointed by the council or Selection and Constitutional Review Committee To request or commission research or other studies on matters of policy or service provision whether external or via other parts of the council's political management structure To refer to the Cabinet any matters with corporate implications To prepare responses to consultation papers issued by the government and other organisations in relation to those functions within the purview of the Cabinet To give guidance on budget priorities To develop proposals for the effective use of land and property in partnership with other stakeholders where appropriate To receive representations from councillors acting in their capacity as Ward Members in relation to the provision of services to residents within their area
The Cabinet Members, and their areas of responsibility, are; Cllr Noel Ovenden – Leader of the Council Cabinet Member for Finance and Resource Special Responsibility for Housing & Homelessness · External Role at National, Regional and local level including Joint Working · Overall vision, strategic direction & Projects · Budget – Revenue & Capital Spend · ICT and Digital Services · (Oversight of Legal Services) · Homes & Homelessness (temporary secondment) Cllr Steve Campkin – Deputy Leader Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Sustainability · Carbon Reduction & Net Zero · Waste and Recycling · Car Parks & Parking Strategy Cllr Simon Betty Cabinet Member for Commercial Property & Investment · Corporate Property · Regeneration Sites Cllr Katrina Giles Cabinet Member for Communities & Health · Health & Wellbeing · Community Safety & Resilience Cllr Linda Harman Cabinet Member for Planning, Housing Delivery & Communication · Planning & Neighbourhood Planning · Building Control · Planning Enforcement · Oversight of PR and Communications Cllr Heather Hayward Cabinet Member for Tourism, Culture, Policy and Performance · Policy · Town Centre · Tourism · Art, Heritage & Culture Cllr Dawnie Nilson Cabinet Member for People & Services · Human Resources · Customer Services Cllr Guy Pullen Cabinet Member for Parks & Recreation · Land Management · Sports & Community facilities Deputy Portfolio Holders Cllr Al Arnold Deputy Portfolio Holder for Housing & Homelessness · Reporting to Leader