The Local Government Act 2000 requires councils like Eastbourne Borough Council to operate what is known as "executive arrangements". This is where many of the Council's functions are the responsibility of a Cabinet (or "executive") of councillors with the Leader of the Council acting as the Cabinet's chair. At Eastbourne, the Leader and Cabinet members all come from the majority political group.
The Cabinet must operate within the annual budget set by the Council as a whole. Some important functions cannot be undertaken by the Cabinet. For example, planning and licensing applications must be dealt with by committees composed of councillors from all political groups or by officers acting in accordance with approved council policies. These are known as "non-executive" functions.
New Governance Proposals
A recent changes to legislation has meant that the Council has to review it's executives arrangements and adopt one of two forms:
A public consultation was recently undertaken and the results were reported to Councillors last July. You can see a copy of the report below. The Council's decided that they would choose the new style leader and cabinet type of executive. A document describing the proposals for the new governance arrangements can be seen below.
The Council formally adopted the new executive arrangements by resolution on 15 September 2010. The new arrangements will come into effect on 8 May 2011 after the council elections.
