Council structure and constitution
Brighton & Hove City Council operates under 'executive arrangements' - a Leader & Cabinet system.
This means that the Cabinet (or Executive) is responsible for day-to-day decision making on most services such as education, highways, housing, leisure, libraries, parking, refuse collection, street cleansing and social services. Cabinet meets eleven times a year.
The Cabinet must operate within the budget and policy framework agreed by the Full Council.
The Cabinet are held to account by Overview and Scrutiny committees and sub-committees.
There are also several other committees which deal with functions like planning, licensing, audit standards and general purposes.
Full council meets seven times a year. There are two special full council meetings each year.
At the other five meetings full council reviews the decisions made by committees.
Overview and scrutiny
Overview and scrutiny brings backbench members from all political groups together with community co-optees. They provide robust ‘critical friend’ challenge to the Council’s Cabinet and to the local NHS.
There are 3 overview and scrutiny committees:
- Health - focuses on NHS services
- People - looks at council services including:
- adult social care
- public health
- children and young people
- communities and equalities
- libraries
- adult skills
- housing needs
- homelessness and tenant or resident services
- Place - looks at council services including:
- corporate functions
- Human Resources (HR)
- finance and procurement
- Information Technology and Digital (IT&D)
- transport
- culture and leisure
- planning policy
- waste management
- sustainability
- economic regeneration
- community safety and housing delivery
- regeneration and supply
Each overview and scrutiny committee will meet in public 4 times a year. Each committee can also establish task and finish panels to take an in-depth look at specific issues.