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Before the Local Government Act 2000, local authorities operated under a ‘committee system’.  All the powers of a local authority were vested in the full council (meetings to which all the councillors were invited). However, the council usually handed over responsibility for most decisions to committees, sub-committees and officers.

The committee system was largely abolished by the 2000 Act, which put in place a system known as ‘Executive Arrangements’.  All councils in with a population of more than 85,000 (which includes Bracknell Forest) had to put in place an Executive.

The Act specified the Executive had to take one of three forms:

• a Leader elected by other councillors plus an Executive of up to nine other councillors
• a directly elected Mayor (elected by the public) plus a Cabinet of up to nine other councillors
• a directly elected Mayor plus a Council Manager

The third option was eventually abolished.

Under the system of Executive Arrangements some functions, such as whether to grant planning permission, are still the responsibility of the council, which may in turn hand over those decisions to a committee, in much the same way as happened under the old committee system.  

Also, major policies and the council budget have to be approved at a full council meeting (a meeting to which all councillors are invited). However, the responsibility for other decisions rests with the Executive.

Our Current System of Executive Arrangements

Bracknell Forest opted for the Leader plus Executive form of Executive Arrangements. The law allowed councils a wide degree of discretion as to the exact nature of the Leader plus Executive. For example, some councils decided the council rather than the Leader should decide which councillors should serve on the Executive and what their portfolios should be.

A smaller number of councils, including Bracknell Forest Council, put in place what has become known as the ‘strong leader‘ model. The Leader, not the council, selects which members serve on the Executive and what their responsibilities are.  At present, in addition to the current Leader Cllr Paul Bettison, there are seven other councillors who serve on the Executive.

Why is Change Required?

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 changes the laws relating to Executive Arrangements.  By the end of 2010 the council must have reviewed its Scheme of Executive Arrangements and moved to a Leader and Cabinet Executive (England) Model or to a directly elected Mayor plus Cabinet Model. The new arrangements will come into place shortly after council elections in May 2011.

The Leader plus Cabinet Executive (England) Model is similar to the council’s current system. The Leader would still be elected at a council meeting (it would be the first meeting after the elections). The Leader would still decide who served on the Executive and what their responsibilities should be. If Bracknell Forest opted for such a model the council would have to make a number of quite minor amendments.  The most important would be a provision that the Leader would serve a four year term instead of the current one year (but there could be a provision which allowed the council to replace the Leader within that period). The council’s constitution would also have to include a provision requiring the Leader to appoint one of the other members of the Executive as his deputy.

If the council chose the directly elected Mayor model, the Mayor’s role would cease to be the largely civic ceremonial role which it is at present. The elected Mayor would choose which councillors should serve on the Executive (up to a maximum of nine) and what their areas of responsibility would be

Consultation

The council is seeking the views of the residents of Bracknell Forest as to what form of Executive Arrangements should come into effect after the next elections. If you have any views or queries please contact the borough solicitor and monitoring officer, Alex Jack at Easthampstead House, Town Square, Bracknell, RG12 1AQ or e-mail him at alex.jack@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

The closing date for receipt of representations is April 30.

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