Councillors are elected every four years; the last elections were held in May 1997. Each Councillor represents an area known as an 'Electoral Division'. Information about County Councillors and their areas is available here.
How are Committees organised?
The Council has many responsibilities and has divided them up amongst a number of Committees. These Committees may, in turn, appoint Sub-Committees or Working Parties to deal with certain aspects of their work.
The County Council has introduced a modernised system with the creation of a single, streamlined Executive Committee taking on the decision making powers and duties of the former Policy, Education, Arts & Libraries, Environment and Social Services Committees and their Sub-Committees.
Representatives of the Church of England and of the Roman Catholic Church who formerly sat on the Education, Arts & Libraries Committee will have seats on the new Executive Committee when education issues are being discussed.
The County Council has also created five new Scrutiny Committees with the power to investigate policy issues and question members of the Executive, commission reports, invite outside experts to give evidence and make recommendations to the Executive Committee and the County Council. It is recognised that within the Council's new political structure the role of Scrutiny will prove to be of paramount importance as a check on the Executive Committee.
Every Committee and Sub-Committee has "terms of reference" which set out its powers and responsibilities, in other words what it can and cannot do. Sometimes it cannot make a decision either because it does not have the power to do so or because it needs the agreement of another Committee. In those cases the decision will have to be confirmed by another Committee or by the Council. You may have noticed that some of the minutes of Committees or Sub-Committees do not have an asterisk or "star" by the side of them - that means the decision has to be confirmed by the parent Committee and/or Council.
The County Council is required by law to give a minimum of 3 days' notice of most meetings and allow access to certain types of information. The dates and times of most of the Committees and Sub-Committees are shown in the Council's Calendar of Meetings, which is on display at County Hall, Exeter and public libraries. A copy is also available on this website. Notice boards and monitor screens will show you where the meeting will actually take place. If you are in any doubt please ask at the reception desk. The calendar does not include the dates of all such meetings or of working parties, as some are arranged as and when required. If you are interested in a meeting that does not appear on the calendar, please contact the Committee Secretariat & Members' Services Unit at County Hall.
It is difficult to say how long a meeting will last or when a particular matter will be discussed. If you are interested in a matter that is to be discussed at a meeting it is best to come along for the start of the meeting. That might mean you will have to wait a while to hear the matter in which you are interested but that is better than missing it altogether. Exeter. A map of Exeter, showing the site of County Hall is available here - 26.5 Kbytes.
Committees and Sub-Committees also meet normally at Exeter. The full Council meets in February to agree the budget and set the level of Council Tax for the following year.
By law members of the public have a right of access to certain types of information held by the Council. For example, you can see the reports going to the meetings to see if they are accurate.
There may be occasions when the public is asked to leave a meeting or where they may not be
able to see a particular report because it has to be discussed in private. If that happens the
reason has to be given in advance. The County Council cannot itself invent reasons - the reason
has to be allowed by law, such as protecting a person's privacy.
Can I take part in the Meeting?
No. There is no opportunity for members of the public to speak at or participate in the
proceedings of any meeting. If you wish to make your views known on an issue or to raise a particular matter the best way to do that is to lobby your local County Councillor to do so on your behalf.
The Council has agreed to introduce a scheme to allow members of the public to ask questions or present petitions to the Chairmen of both the Executive and Standards Committees. Details of this scheme will be available shortly.
In addition to being discussed at committee meetings, many proposals under consideration by
the Council are subject to public consultation and are publicised through press adverts, street
notices, exhibitions, the internet etc. You can often use pre-paid forms to respond or you can
write in or send an electronic mail message.
What happens at the Meeting?
The first part of an agenda follows a standard pattern with Members being asked to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. Members can only question the accuracy of the minutes and not raise matters that were discussed previously. The next item is one that enables the chairman to raise matters that are not included on the agenda - if they are important or urgent enough. It is the Chairman's decision alone.
After dealing with those items the Chairman will move on to the other items on the agenda, dealing with each in turn. The appropriate Officer will introduce the item and then there will be general discussion on that subject (known as a debate). The Chairman's job is to ensure that there is an orderly discussion and that a decision is taken. A decision may be made on the basis of an Officer's recommendation (as set out in any written reoprt or made at the meeting) or on the basis of a suggestion made by a Member at the meeting. The way in which decisions are taken at meetings often seems complex but as with most things it is not difficult to understand if you know what is happening. The following paragaphs attempt to explain the procedure that is followed.
When a Member makes a recommendation (known as a Motion or Proposition) the Chairman will ask Members to debate it. When, in the Chairman's view there has been sufficient discussion, the Member who moved the motion would be given the chance to speak again. This is known as "replying to the debate". Immediately after that Member has spoken, the Chairman will ask the Members to vote. Any motion must be formally "seconded" by another Member before it can be voted upon. However it is often the case that during a debate on a motion another Member will suggest that it should be altered in some way, perhaps by adding or taking out words (an "amendment"). If this happens the meeting will also have to discuss the amendment. At the end of that debate the member who suggested the amendment will also be given the chance to speak - to "reply to the debate" - followed immediately by the mover of the original motion. Only one amendment can be dealt with at a time. If an amendment is agreed or carried it then becomes a substantive motion (the original motion is considered to have been defeated) to which further amendments may be made. If the amendment is not agreed then the meeting will vote on the original proposal. There may, of course, then be further amendments. Decisions can be reached by agreement or by a formal show of hands. They are then recorded in the minutes, which go on to the County Council.
Some Members speak more often than others. This is because the political parties on the Council often appoint "spokespersons" who will take the lead in any discussions at the relevant meeting.
The way in which meetings are organised and conducted is governed in the main by a document known as Standing Orders, which lays down the rules to be followed by the Council and Committees in conducting their business.
Agenda & Minutes
An agenda is a document that lists the matters to be considered and the order in which they will be taken. The order can only be altered by the meeting. There is no set time at which a particular item will come up and no time limit on discussion of each item. The Agenda and Minutes of the main Committees (and Sub-Committees) of the Council
are being published progressively on the Internet. A complete range of information, therefore, may not be available at this time.
A facility has been developed to allow these documents to be searched to locate matters you are interested in. You may search for information from a single committee or a combination of committees.
