Your Council
The
Council is composed of 49 councillors elected every four
years. Councillors are democratically accountable to
residents of their ward. The overriding duty of Councillors
is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their
constituents, including those who did not vote for them.
Councillors have to agree to follow
a Code of Conduct to ensure high standards in the way they
undertake their duties.
All Councillors meet together as The
Council, usually about 10 times a year.
Meetings of the Council are normally open to the public.
Here, Councillors decide the Council’s overall policies, set the
budget and make important decisions that are not delegated to the
Executive, other Committees, Councillors or Officers. The
Council also appoints a Leader of the Council and five other
members which are known as Deputy Leaders who form the
Executive.
Chairman of
Council
The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of
the Council are elected every year at the Annual Meeting of the
Council. The Chairman of the Council is the civic head of the
Council and represents the Council at civic and ceremonial
functions. There is now an online form to request the
Attendance of Chairman of the Council.
Executive
Each year at its annual meeting,
the Councillors elect one of their numbers to be the Leader of the
Council. This post is the political head of the
Council. At the annual meeting of the Council five Deputy
Leaders are also elected, each having a specific area of
responsibility.
South Staffordshire Council Executive
2010/2011
The Executive meets each month to
make decisions and discuss issues affecting the District and the
Council. The Executive is the part of the Council which is
responsible for most day to day decisions. When major
decisions are to be discussed or made, these are normally published
in the Executive’s Forward Plan. The Executive meetings are
generally open for the public to attend, except when personal or
confidential matters are being discussed. The Executive has
to make decisions which are in line with the Council’s overall
policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is
outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to
the Council as a whole to decide.
Each Deputy Leader or Leader
(also known as Portfolio Holders) are responsible for different
areas of the Council’s work.
The Leader of the Council has
specific responsibility for
Policy and
Partnership Services which covers; crime and disorder, the
Local Strategic Partnership, corporate strategy, best value,
external relations, comprehensive performance assessment and the
Forward Plan.
The
Support
Services Portfolio covers concessionary fares, civil
contingencies, electoral services and support functions such
as accountancy, I.C.T., parts of personnel, health and safety,
parts of Governance Services, public relations, building
maintenance, fleet management etc.
The
Direct
Services Portfolio covers customer services, Revenues and
Benefits (formerly benefits and local taxation), land charges and
building control. The portfolio also covers the Council’s
industrial estates and Hinksford Mobile Homes Park.
The Community
Services Portfolio covers Leisure Services (leisure
centres, community outreach work, countryside parks and events),
Housing Services - Operations (housing advice and
homelessness) and Environmental Health Commercial Services
(health and safety enforcement, health and wellbeing opportunities,
food safety and pest control). The Portfolio also leads on
partnership opportunities for Children and Young People and the
Public Health Agenda.
The
Environmental Services Portfolio covers refuse
collection and recycling and other elements of environmental
health, including; statutory nuisances, pollution control,
abandoned vehicles and dog fouling. Most of the Council’s
engineering function is also under this portfolio and includes;
dangerous buildings, structures, drainage systems, flood protection
and street lighting. The portfolio also includes
environmental improvements, landscape policy, environmental
protection, grounds maintenance, street cleansing, countryside
management and other environmental functions.
The
Strategic
Services Portfolio covers the Council’s responsibility to
prepare development plans (Local Development Framework), the
Council’s strategic housing function, economic development and
built conservation.
The Executive can make decisions
together at their meetings or they can make individual decisions on
behalf of the Council covering the areas within their
portfolio.
Committees
Overview & Scrutiny Committee
There is one Overview
and Scrutiny committee to support the work of the Executive and the
Council as a whole. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee appoints 4
Scrutiny Panels annually of which 3 panels each “shadow” 2
Portfolios and 1 panel deals exclusively with the Health Scrutiny
Agenda.
The Overview and
Scrutiny Committee and the Scrutiny Panels allow citizens to have a
greater say in Council matters by looking in detail into matters of
local concern. These enquiries lead to reports and recommendations
which advise the Executive and the Council as a whole on its
policies, budget and service delivery. The Overview and Scrutiny
Committee and the Scrutiny Panels also monitor the decisions of the
Executive. They can call-in a decision which has been made by the
Executive collectively or individually but not yet implemented.
This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate.
They may recommend that the Executive reconsider the decision they
may also be consulted by the Executive or the Council on
forthcoming decisions and the development of policy.
The Overview and
Scrutiny Committee comprises all councillors who are not members of
the Executive or of the Audit Committee. The Committee usually
meets in public. However, on occasion confidential or private
matters may be discussed, and at such times it will not be open to
the public to attend.
The powers of the
Scrutiny Panels aligned to the Portfolios include:
- review of decisions or
action taken by the Executive either collectively or individually
and a report to the Council or the Executive in respect of those
functions:
- review of decisions or
action taken in respect of any functions which are not the
responsibility of the Executive and make similar reports to the
Council or the Executive in respect of those functions;
- to review all key
decisions proposed by the Deputy Leaders whose portfolios they are
responsible for scrutinising
- make reports or
recommendations in respect of any matter which affects the local
authority’s area or its inhabitants;
- scrutinise the best value
reviews carried out by members of the Executive and monitoring
improvement proposals.
- require a decision
proposed but not implemented be reconsidered by the decision
maker.
The Council's constitution
provides that any member of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee can
ask for a matter to be discussed at a meeting of that Committee or
at a meeting of the relevant Scrutiny Panel. The Overview and
Scrutiny Committee and the Scrutiny Panels have the right to
require members of the Executive to appear before them to answer
questions.
(i) Non-Executive
councillors, the Monitoring Officer, and the Chief Finance Officer
have five days to call-in any decision made by an Executive member
individually or by the Executive collectively. The detailed
arrangements are set out in the Scrutiny Procedure Rules in this
Constitution.
The Overview and Scrutiny
Committee and the Scrutiny Panels can also “call in” decisions
delegated to employees other than those matters reserved to the
Regulatory Committee. Further details of the Overview and Scrutiny
Process are set out at Article 6 of the
Council's Constitution.
In addition, Executive
members are responsible for carrying Best Value Reviews (as
identified in the Best Value Performance Plan) which are, in turn,
looked at by the Scrutiny Panels.
Regulatory Committee
Certain decisions that are made by
South Staffordshire Council cannot by law be made by the Executive
and therefore are made by a separate committee which South
Staffordshire Council has called the Regulatory Committee. It
is the Regulatory Committee that considers planning applications
where the decision is not delegated to the Head of Development and
Building Control Services. The Regulatory Committee meets
approximately every three weeks and the meetings are generally open
to the public. The Regulatory Committee comprises of all
members of the Council.
Licensing Committee
The Licensing Committee comprises of
15 members of the Council. It deals with the Council’s
licensing and registration function, including the determination of
applications for licensed premises and licenses for taxi
drivers.
The Licensing Committee is required
to establish sub-committees to deal with appeals and determinations
relating to licensed premises.
The Standards Committee
The Standards Committee of the
Council comprises two members of the Council, two independent
members and one parish member who may not be a member of South
Staffordshire Council. This committee advises the Council on
the adoption or revision of the Code of Conduct for Councillors and
it also conducts hearings into complaints referred to the Council
for determination/investigation by the Standards Board for
England.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee comprises of 6
Councillors. The committee considers both external and
internal audit matters as well as maintaining an overview of
contract procedures, financial regulations and risk
management. The Audit Committee also reviews the annual
statement of accounts and the statement of internal control.
Forward Plan
The Leader of the Council produces a
Forward Plan (also known as a Schedule of Decisions) that sets out
in a schedule the key decisions the Council intends to make over a
period of four months. The intention of the Forward Plan is
to publicise the Council’s work so that members of the public can
be more involved in the Council’s decision-making process.
Documents relating to the matters listed in the Forward Plan are
available for public inspection at the Council’s offices.
Officers of the Council
The Council employs over 400 people, most
of whom are based at the Council’s offices at Wolverhampton Road,
Codsall. Some staff are also located at the Council’s four
leisure centres or at the Council’s depot.
Strategic Management Team
In order to ensure that the Council
continues to improve its services to its residents and local
businesses, as well as meeting our statutory requirements, five
new Directors have recently been appointed that compliment the
Portfolio’s of the Council’s Deputy Leaders (Members of the
Executive). Together with the Chief Executive and Deputy
Chief Executive, the Directors form the Council’s Strategic
Management Team. The Directors work with their Portfolio
Holders, Heads of Service and other Service Managers to ensure that
an efficient and effective service is provided for the residents of
the District.
Chief Executive
The Head of Paid Service at South
Staffordshire Council is the Chief Executive, Steve
Winterflood. Steve Winterflood has overall responsibility
for the running of the Council but also takes special
responsibility for Partnership working, most notably supporting the
work of the Local Strategic Partnership. He is also the designated
Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer.
Deputy Chief Executive
South Staffordshire Council also has a
Deputy Chief Executive, who supports the work of the Chief
Executive.
Director of
Finance (Support Services)
The Director for Support Services is
Mr. Phil Cooper and his responsibilities cover; accountancy, I.C.T.
and administration. His management team includes the I.C.T.
Services Manager (Leigh Brookes), the Electoral &
Concessionary Services Manager (Phil Hardy) and
the Accountancy & Financial Services Manager (Helen
Ogram).
Director of Revenue and Customer
Services (Direct Services)
The Director for Direct Services is Mrs
Frankie Cartwright. Direct Services provides a range of front line
transactional services to the residents of South Staffordshire,
which includes the billing, collection and recovery of Council Tax
and Business Rates (Revenues), the administration of claims for
Housing and Council Tax Benefits, Customer Services and Commercial
Development. Mrs Cartwright’s management team includes the
Revenues and Benefits Manager (Mrs Tracey Richards), the Customer
Services Manager (Mrs Karen Childs) and the Commercial Development
Manager (Mr Glen Parker).
Director
of Community Services (Community Services)
The Director for Community
Services is Mr. David Heywood and his responsibilities cover
leisure services, Housing Operations and Environmental Health
(Commercial Services). Mr. Heywood’s management team includes
the Community Development Manager (Katie Beards), the Leisure
Services Manager – Operations (Tony Ward), the Housing
Services Manager – Operations (Pat Main) and the Environmental
Health Manager (Jenny Rhodes). Mr Heywood also takes a lead role on
partnership working through the Local Strategic Partnership.
Director of
Environmental Services (Environmental Services)
The Director of Environmental
Services responsibilities cover; Engineering and Building Control
Services, Environmental Health (General) Services and Architectural
and Landscape Services. He is responsible for functions,
which include waste management, recycling, street cleansing,
environmental enforcement, climate change/sustainability, grounds
maintenance, biodiversity, management of parks and open spaces,
landscape planning, flood protection, parking enforcement, building
control, facilities management of the Council Offices, the
Council depot and vehicle fleet. Environmental Services
management team comprises of the Head of Engineering Services
(Steve Poyser), the Head of Environmental Health (General) Services
(Dave Armitage), the Landscapes Manager (Howard Medlicott), the
Landscape Planning Manager (Hayden Baugh-Jones) and the
Architectural and Facilities Manager (John Round).
Director of Planning and
Strategic Services (Strategic Services)
The Director for Strategic Services
is Mr. Andy Johnson. This portfolio covers the Local Development
Framework, economic development, housing and housing
strategy. Andy Johnson is in the process of developing his
management team.
Director of Legal and
Licensing
The Director for Legal
and Licensing is Mr. David Pattison. His responsibilities
cover legal advice to the Council and Licensing Services.
David Pattison is in the process of developing his management
team.
By law, every local authority must have a
Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) and a Monitoring
Officer.
The role of the Section 151 Officer is
carried out by the Director (Support Services) – Mr. Phil
Cooper. The Section 151 Officer has statutory
responsibilities for the proper management of the Council’s
finances.
The Monitoring Officer role is carried by
the Head of Governance and Scrutiny Services – Mrs. Lin Robinson
who is also the officer responsible for Scrutiny at the
Council. The Monitoring Officer is responsible for the
standards of conduct of members and officers of the Council and
Parish Council members within the District.