Political structure

Political structure

North Devon Council has 43 elected councillors.

The state of the parties is:

The council is controlled by a coalition between the Liberal Democrats and independent councillors.

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.

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 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 eight members with all members having responsibility for overarching strategic development (portfolios).

Councillor B. Greenslade - Lead Member Policy and Resources and  Lead Member for Regulatory Policy and Services

Councillor R. Cann – Lead Member Environment

Councillor M. Edmunds – Lead Member for Strategic Planning and Lead Member for Ilfracombe Development

Councillor Mrs Gubb – Lead Member for Community

Councillor Mrs Manuel – Lead Member for Performance and Procedures

Councillor M. Prowse – Lead Member for Economic Regeneration

Councillor D. Spear – Lead Member for Culture

Councillor Mrs Webber – Lead Member for Housing

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.

Chairman of Council - Councillor G. Fowler

Vice-Chairman of Council - Councillor M. Wilkinson

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 :

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.

Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee is a Committee of the Council made up of 7 North Devon Councillors and 2 non-voting Town/Parish Councillors who represent all the Town/Parishes in the District.

The Ethics Committee oversees the Councillor Code of Conduct for the District Council and all Parish and Town Councils within its area. Different councils may have adopted different codes. It can investigate if a Councillor is thought to have broken their authority's Code of Conduct. It also works with Councillors to promote the highest standards of conduct.

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 sub-committees 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.