Political structure
North Devon Council has 43 elected councillors. The Conservative party has overall control of the council.
The current state of the parties is:
- Conservative - 22 councillors
- Liberal Democrats - 17 councillors
- Independent group - 3 councillors
- Non-aligned - 1 councillor
The council has adopted a political management structure, based on a Leader and Cabinet system which together is known as the "Executive" the roles of the councillors.
The committee structure (jpg) and a description of their roles and responsibilities is given below.
Executive
The Executive is the strategic decision making body of the council. It has far reaching functions and responsibilities including leading the community planning process, responsibility for the preparation of the Corporate Business Plan, preparation of the policy framework and budget of the council and it carries out all functions which are not the responsibility of any other part of the council.
The Leader of the council is the "Chairman" of the Executive. The Executive has ten members with all members having responsibility for overarching strategic development (portfolios).
Council
The council meets approximately seven times a year.
Council is the forum where the Executive reports to all councillors. At each meeting of council the Executive Leader and each Executive Member with a portfolio will report on their work programme and actions to their fellow councillors. The chairmen of the area committees, the Licensing committee, the Overview and Scrutiny committee and the Standards committee will also be reporting on their actions since the last meeting of the council.
Council meetings are open to the public and you may address council on any issue relevant to North Devon.
Overview and Scrutiny committee
The government has said that if we have an Executive, with far reaching decision making powers, then we must have at least one overview and scrutiny committee.
The Overview And Scrutiny committee :
- will review or scrutinise decisions made by the Executive and other committees
- can make reports to council on the preparation and implementation of a programme of policy reviews, consider and report on any area of policy development or review
- will review and scrutinise the performance of the council in relation to its policy objectives, performance targets and particular service areas.
The committee will be comprised of community councillors – this means that a member of the Executive cannot also be a member of Overview And Scrutiny committee.
Standards committee
The council has established a Standards committee as required by the Local Government Act 2000.
The Standards committee consists of four NDC councillors, five independent members and three parish/town council members.
The Standards committee has the following roles and functions for both the council and all parish/town councils in the North Devon Council area:
- promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members
- assisting the members and co-opted members to observe their respective adopted members' Codes of Conduct
- advising the council on the adoption or revision of their respective members' Codes of Conduct
- making recommendations on the council's Constitution and Standing Orders
- making recommendations in respect of any Ombudsman investigations
- overview of the whistleblowing policy, any complaints of fraud or corruption, local planning code of conduct and the Protocol on Officer/Councillor relations
Licensing committee
The Licensing committee is responsible for undertaking the licensing and regulatory functions of the council, determining applications (except those that are delegated to officers) and to hear appeals against any decision. The committee has appointed five sub-committees (A, B, C, D and E) that have delegated powers to hear appeals and determine applications. The sub-committees meet on a rota basis.
Planning committee
The Planning committee considers and determines any matters arising under the planning acts which the Planning Manager refers to it, applications which are deemed as major planning applications, applications which in the opinion of the Planning Manager is appropriate for determination by the committee to avoid a conflict with planning regulations or applications which for reasons of transparency cannot be determined by the Planning Manager under delegated powers. The committee has appointed three site inspection sub-committees (A, B and C) which report their views of the sites to the Planning committee.
The Planning committee is open to the public and, with the consent of the Chairman, you may address the committee on a planning application which is listed on the agenda for consideration at a meeting.
Personnel committee
The role of the Personnel committee is to consider personnel issues relating to staff of the council and to consider and make recommendations to the council on the policy and procedures for the recruitment and retention of staff.
If you would like to know more about NDC's committees, please contact us. Further details regarding the roles and functions of the Executive and the above committees can be found in the Constitution.
