The Council consists of 59 Councillors, also referred to as Elected Members. Many are part of political groups, whilst others may not be and are referred to as independent members.
Councils can currently operate using various models. Some operate with an elected mayor, whilst others might operate using what is known as a committee system.
The Government is currently proposing to abolish that system and make all councils (with the exception of those who currently have an elected mayor ) adopt the Cabinet and Leader model.
Most Councils, including Redcar and Cleveland, already operate with this model.
Details of our Councillors and the political make-up of the Council can be found here: Find your councillors
The Mayor
The Council has a civic mayor only. The Mayor is elected annually by the 59 Councillors.
The role of the Mayor is essentially ceremonial and does not involve any responsibility for making decisions. However, the Mayor is responsible for chairing meetings of the Full Council and does have a casting vote in the event of decisions where there is tied vote by other Elected Members.
Find more information about the The Mayor of Redcar and Cleveland.
Full Council
The Full Council consists of all 59 Members. It meets regularly and makes decisions relating to matters which are not the responsibility of the Cabinet.
These are referred to as non-executive decisions and include matters such as, for example, approving the Council’s annual budget, or the local plan.
The Full Council is technically responsible for all non-executive decisions, which also include most planning and licensing matters. However, in practice, these are mainly delegated to committees and officers.
For example, planning and licensing matters are considered by the Regulatory Committee or, for more routine or uncontentious decisions, by Licensing or Planning Officers.
More details about the Council and its meetings is available here: Borough Council
Leader of the Council
After local elections, which occur every 4 years, the Leader of the Council is elected by the 59 Councillors for a 4-year term.
The Leader then appoints Cabinet Members, who each have specific areas of responsibility, or portfolios. The Cabinet can also be referred to as the executive.
The Cabinet
The Cabinet is responsible for the vast majority of day-to-day decisions made by the Council. Where the Cabinet is responsible for making a decision, these are referred to as executive decisions. These decisions cannot be overruled by Full Council.
The Cabinet meets regularly to make decisions but may also delegate decisions to Council officers. In practice, most routine operational decisions are made by Officers under delegation and there is a large schedule of these delegated powers within the Council’s constitution.
The Council's constitution is avaialable to view online.
The Cabinet is also responsible for proposing an annual budget each year to Full Council. This initially involves a draft budget being produced for consultation with the public and businesses. The Cabinet may also seek views from other committees that exist within the Council (see below) and/or task and finish groups, which might be set up for that specific purpose.
Ultimately, though, it is Cabinet’s responsibility to propose a final budget to the Full Council, and for Full Council to approve this within one of its meetings.
More information about The Cabinet and Cabinet papers is available to view online.
Scrutiny Committees
Councils operating with a Leader and Cabinet must also operate overview and scrutiny arrangements. Within the Council, these arrangements involve a number of Scrutiny and Improvement Committees covering specific functions.
More information about Scrutiny Committees can be found online.
These committees influence the policies and decisions made by the Council and other organisations involved in delivering public services.
The committees may gather evidence on issues affecting local people and make recommendations based on their findings. They may set up working groups or task and finish groups to look at specific issues.
They also have statutory powers to scrutinise decisions the Cabinet is planning to take, those it is planning to implement, and those that have already been taken / implemented.
Many Cabinet decisions are subject to a process called “call-in”. In basic terms, this means that where a Cabinet decision is made and there is concern about it, the decision may be called in for discussion by the Resources and Governance Scrutiny and Improvement Committee, who may then make recommendations and refer the decision back to the Cabinet for reconsideration or, potentially, refer the matter to the Full Council, either of whom may then make recommendations for the Cabinet to consider, before the decision can be implemented.
Most significant decisions are made by the Cabinet and the Full Council, however, the Council does have other committees and panels, including the following:
Governance Committee
The Governance Committee is responsible primarily for matters relating to audit and governance, including oversight of risk management and complaints. It is also responsible for oversight of the conduct of Councillors and dealing with related complaints.
Regulatory Committee
The Regulatory Committee is responsible for making planning and licensing decisions.
Employment Health and Safety Committee
The Employment Health and Safety Committee deals with matters relating to employment, such as HR polices and terms and conditions. It also deals with health and safety issues.
In some circumstances, this committee may sit as the Council’s General Purposes Committee. In this situation (which occurs very rarely) the committee is empowered to take decisions which would normally be taken by Full Council - usually in cases of urgency, where convening a meeting of Full Council is not practicable.
Corporate Parenting Board
The Corporate Parenting Board relates to the Council’s obligations as a corporate parent, to those children who are within its care. Amongst other things, it is responsible for raising awareness of these obligations and promoting the safety and welfare of children.
Further details about these committees and a number of other committees/panels operated by the Council and/or its partners can be found here: Committee structure.
Further details about the Council’s overarching governance arrangements are included within the Annual Governance Statement and the Code of Governance which supports this.
Both documents can be accessed here by visiting: Annual governance statement.