How Decisions are Made
The Council is made up of locally elected Councillors who make decisions on how to provide local services on behalf of local people.
Decisions are made by democratic bodies, including the Full Council, The Cabinet, and other committees that Councillors are appointed to.
Meetings of these committees are normally open to the public. A full description of these bodies and meetings can be found in the Committees webpages which describe the purpose of each body.
Details of key decisions that have been taken are posted on the Decisions webpage.
Videos of meetings (webcasts) and see decisions being taken.
In summary the Council's decision-making structure is:
- Full Council - at Full Council Councillors decide the Council's overall policies and set the budget each year.
- The Cabinet - the Council appoints the Cabinet which has, as a main role, the task of developing and implementing policy on behalf of the Council. The Cabinet has to make decisions which are in line with the Council's overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Full Council to decide.
- The Forward Plan - key decisions that the Council plans to make in the coming months are published in the Council’s Forward Plan.
- Area Committees are the place for you and other local residents to contribute ideas on how to improve the area where you live. The borough is divided into seven Area Committees which are led by local ward Councillors. Area Committees can pass formal recommendations to Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
- The Regulatory Committee operates as a statutory Licensing Committee to cover under the Licensing Act 2003. It also has other non-statutory responsibilities around Licensing and Planning.
- The Corporate Committee is responsible for actively administering financial affairs including remuneration, audit and pensions. It is the 'parent' committee for Disciplinary, Grievance, Job Evaluation Appeals Panels and Haringey Council and Employees Joint Consultative Sub-Committee.
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Scrutiny is a statutory service and helps to ensure that local public services are delivered effectively, efficiently and in the best interests of residents. The Councillor members of Overview and Scrutiny Committee are drawn from the Chairs of Area Committees.
- Standards Committee promotes and maintains high standards of conduct by councillors, co-opted members and representatives of organisations and parent governor representatives. It oversees the Members' Code of Conduct and Ethical Framework.
- Officer delegated decisions are clearly described in Part Three, Section E of the Council's Constitution. Certain types of decision must by law be delegated to an officer rather than being determined by Members. These include the appointment and dismissal of officers below Deputy Chief Officer level, discharge of the duties of the Returning Officer in elections and the Proper Officer functions. For the great majority of local authority functions it is a matter of local choice for the Council whether they are exercised by Members or delegated to officers.
The framework that lays out how the Council is governed is the Council's Constitution which describes how the Council makes decisions and the role of Full Council, The Cabinet and various committees.
|back to top
