MEMBERS of Richmondshire District Council have voted to implement changes to the authority's internal governance arrangements.
The new structure involves a single policy committee, called the Strategy Board, consisting of ten councillors. In essence, the Strategy Board replaces the Council's three existing policy committees (Resources, Community and Environment), with a stronger scrutiny function which gives the potential for all councillors to have a role in policy and strategy development.
The Strategy Board will be appointed on the basis of political proportionality – that is, each political group will be allocated a number of places based on its size.
Members of the Board will work collectively in making decisions, meaning no councillor will have any individual decision-making powers outside of the Board. The Board will, like the existing committees, meet in public, and be accountable to all residents of Richmondshire.
The full Council will continue to be responsible for the authority's overall policy framework and budget. In addition, councillors not on the Board will play a crucial role in scrutinising and monitoring its decisions, through Overview and Scrutiny committees.
Councillor Melva Steckles, Leader of Richmondshire District Council, said: "These changes are to do with the way we do business inside the Council. It is a streamlining of our decision making processes to be more efficient. The changes are not about the way we need to engage with communities outside of the Council chamber. I fully recognise that not all Members supported all aspects of the changes. Any change naturally creates concerns and anxieties which I am sensitive to and hope will be overcome as everyone sees how the new system will operate in practice. I am confident that our new model, involving a Strategy Board, will significantly improve the way the Council takes decisions."
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Last updated:
22 April 2008
