29.Until now, council business has been carried out under a committee system. Decisions which are not delegated to officers, area committees or to other authorities, contracted out, or carried out jointly with one or more other authorities must be taken either in full council or by committees or sub-committees which comply with the statutory requirements as to the political balance of the council and committees. The Government believes that this system is in need of reform.
30.Under executive arrangements it is proposed that the council’s policy framework and budget would be agreed by the full council following proposals from the executive. The executive would then be charged with implementing the agreed policy framework. Overview and scrutiny committees, which may co-opt people who are not councillors onto their committees, would be charged with holding the executive accountable for that implementation. Such committees would also be able to advise the executive and council on policy development.
31.The Government paper Local Leadership, Local Choice(2) provided further details of these proposals and included a draft Local Government (Organisation and Standards) Bill which was submitted to the scrutiny of a Parliamentary Joint Committee of MPs and Peers in May 1999. This built on proposals in the White Papers Modern Local Government: In Touch with the People(3) and Local Voices: Modernising Local Government in Wales(4).
Introduction Background