Home >> council >> committees12/10/2008 05:42:46

Who's who

Councillors

Councillors are elected to represent the people of the Borough of Fareham. There are thirty-one councillors, two for each of the Borough's wards except Portchester East, which has three councillors because it has a larger population to look after.

 

For more information on who your councillors are and how to contact them, select councillors' pages.

 

For more information on the wards and elections, select election services.

The Council

The Council is made up of the thirty-one councillors mentioned above. It meets eight times a year and makes important decisions on key policies and major plans that affect how the local authority operates. It also decides the authority's budget, including setting the Council Tax.

 

For more information about the Council's meetings select council pages.

The Executive

The Executive operates like the Government's cabinet. It is made up of six councillors, including one who is appointed as the Executive Leader. It is responsible for almost all the functions and services of the Council, but is not allowed to deal with certain matters like planning and licensing applications. These are dealt with by Committees.

 

Each member of the Executive has responsibility for a specific range of council activities (sometimes called portfolios) and will act as the Council's spokesman for those functions. There are six portfolio areas:

  • Policy, strategy and finance
  • Health and environment
  • Housing
  • Leisure
  • Planning and transportation
  • Service performance and improvement

Whilst decision making powers can be delegated to individual Executive members, generally the Executive makes decisions as a committee.

 

The Executive may occasionally be supported in its work by advisory panels set up from time to time. For further information, contact Democratic Services.

 

For more information about the Executive and its meetings select meetings calendar.

Scrutiny Board

The Scrutiny Board is made up of nine councillors and its job is to review decisions made by the Executive to see if they have been made in the right way and if they are the right decision for the Borough. It also reviews major policies and strategies and directs the work of the Review Panels.

 

For more information and details of the Board's meetings select Scrutiny Board.

Review Panels

The Council has five review panels which broadly mirror the portfolio areas of the Executive members. The job of the review panels is to take a leading role in the development of future policies and budgets, related to their particular services. Members of the Executive are not allowed to sit on any of the Review Panels, but sometimes a member of the public who has a special interest or expertise in a topic will be co-opted. For more information about a particular Review Panel, select from the list below. For details of their meetings select meetings calendar.

Committees

There are certain functions which the Executive is not allowed to carry out and these are decided by separate Committees appointed by the Council. There are four Committees:

  • Planning Development Control Committee, made up of nine members which will deal with planning applications and other development control matters
  • Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Committee, made up of ten members, which will deal with licensing and a number of miscellaneous matters including health and safety issues and elections
  • Appeals Committee, made up of five members, which will deal with appeals against decisions on certain matters where there is no specific right of appeal to another body
  • Standards Committee, which is a special Committee required by law. It has six councillors and three independent members, one of whom acts as its Chairman. The Committee deals with allegations of misconduct of Councillors.  It has appointed three sub-committees to assist with this task.
  • Audit Committee, made up of five members. This Committee ensures that the Council is managing risks properly and that proper audit arrangements are in place.
  • Housing Tenancy Review, made up of five members and two tenant representatives. The Board advises the Executive on the management of Council Housing and the relationship of the Council with its tenants.

There may occasionally be other committees appointed to deal with special matters such as the appointment of senior employees of the Council.

 

For more information about a particular Committee select from the list above. For details of their meetings select meetings calendar.

The Mayor

Fareham continues to have a Mayor who represents the Borough and carries out ceremonial duties. The Mayor also chairs meetings of the Council and is chosen by the Councillors each year at their annual meeting.

 

For more information about the Mayor select Mayor's Biography.

Council Officers

Council officers are the paid employees of the Council. They are responsible for carrying out the decisions of the Council, the Executive, Committees and Panels and for providing the Council's services.

 

[Back]