01 01 Decision-making process Under the Local Government Act 2000 the Council was required to adopt one of three

political management systems. As at most Councils, the Leader/Cabinet model was formally adopted at the annual meeting of the new Council on 23 May 2002, following a trial operation for two years. The strong Leader/Cabinet model was then adopted at Council on 21 October 2009. The principal aims of the executive arrangements are to make decision making more efficient, transparent and accountable so that local authorities can be more open and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the communities they serve. Adequate time needs to be built in to decision-making to allow proper consultation with residents and partners. The law requires that all decisions of the authority need to be made in accordance with the following principles: Proportionality (i.e. the action should be proportionate to the desired outcome) On the basis of due consultation and professional advice from officers Respect for human rights A presumption in favour of openness Clarity of aims and desired outcomes Executive decisions and non-executive decisions Under executive arrangements, decisions are divided into: executive decisions: most decisions; taken by officers, Cabinet Members or the (single party) Cabinet. non-executive decisions: The rest; taken by officers ,or committees or full Council. Full details of the structure, including committee terms of reference, are set out in the Councils Constitution, Part 2. Executive decisions and Key decisions The executive is the part of the Council which is responsible for policy implementation, operational decisions, performance, and formulating new policies. Executive decisions are the vast majority of the decisions made; some in turn are also key decisions (see definition below). Who can take these decisions? Cabinet (a monthly public meeting of the Leader of the Council and nine other administration Cabinet members). view the Cabinets web page Cabinet Members - powers are set out in Constitution, Part 2, Section 4 Officers: particularly day-to-day operational and management decisions powers are also set out in Constitution Part 2, Section 4 Who cannot take these decisions? Strategic Board Operations Board Officer meetings, including Governance Boards and Procurement Boards Cabinet Advisory Panels Informal meetings What are key decisions? The definition of a key decision is set out in Constitution Part 3, Section 2 (rule 14.2). See doc 02 04 for more detailed advice.

What steps will I need to consider? The relevant Cabinet Member will decide the decision route, on the recommendation of the officer concerned. This is preceded by submitting a completed Cabinet Member Briefing pro forma (see doc 02 02). When key decisions are to be discussed or made, these must be published in the Forward Plan The executive has to make decisions which are in line with the Councils overall policies and budget, or Cabinet can develop its own policies in many areas. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Council as a whole to decide. Call-in period: Once a key decision (officer or Cabinet) has been made and published, a period of five clear days has to elapse before the decision can be implemented. If the issue is called-in, it cannot be implemented until the matter has been considered by the relevant scrutiny committee. Published means the recommendation is shown as adopted in Decisions database on the Councils website or the date of publication of the Cabinet minutes. Any single Councillor can call-in a key decision they have concerns about. Once the decision has been called-in, it is referred to the relevant scrutiny sub-committee for consideration. The scrutiny sub-committee then has three options: to agree with the original decision (so the original decision can be implemented), or agree the decision but make some other recommendations to the decisionmaker or refer the matter to Cabinet (or full Council in rare circumstances) in which case the decision cannot be implemented until the Cabinet has decided whether to confirm or amend its original decision. Non-executive decisions Who can take these decisions? Full Council (a public meeting of all 63 councillors), Corporate, Licensing, Planning Applications and Standards Committees Officers: particularly day-to-day operational and management decisions powers are set out in the Scheme of Delegation. The Scheme should be read alongside the Financial Regulations. What: Functions which must be discharged by full Council, committees or officers include: Regulatory (planning, licensing, registration) Electoral issues Power to appoint staff Budget-making The annual Council budget and council tax Making of Standing Orders Appointments to Committees The Budget and policy framework which is set by full Council (see Constitution Part 2 Article 4), is based on recommendations made by the Cabinet (a monthly public meeting of the Leader of the Council and nine other Cabinet members). Development and agreement of this policy framework should be an inclusive process involving the public and other stakeholders as well as councillors, especially via the overview & scrutiny committees).

Other bodies Overview and Scrutiny committees

These are not decision-making committees. There is one overarching Overview & Scrutiny Committee with five Scrutiny SubCommittees (Children and Young Peoples Service, Environment and Community Safety, Finance, Health and Adult Services, and Housing) to scrutinise the various functions of the executive (Cabinet and officers) and to support the work of the Council as a whole. They allow residents of Lambeth to have a greater say in Council matters by holding public commissions into matters of local concern. These commissions lead to reports and recommendations which advise the executive and the Council on its policies, budget and service delivery. They also monitor and scrutinise decisions of the executive, and the work of individual members of Cabinet. They will consider any call-in of a decision by a councillor which has been made by the executive but not yet implemented. This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate. They may recommend that the executive reconsider the decision. They may also be consulted by the executive or the Council on forthcoming decisions and in the development of policy, and should be consulted on all Budgetary and Policy framework items. The report author should therefore allow sufficient time for scrutiny to contribute, indicating on the corporate report list pro forma all meetings at which the item needs to be considered. They have no direct decision making powers but can have significant powers over its business and influence on the executive through the full Council. They may also scrutinise other public services which are not the direct functions of the Council, for example: health, crime and publicly provided utilities.

Corporate Committee Corporate Committee discharges any functions, powers and duties of the Council as delegated. Corporate Committee approves the council tax base, considers the statement of accounts, oversee the local government pension scheme, considers ombudsman reports, and a range of specific audit functions. Members consist of three Administration councillors and two opposition councillors.

Licensing Sub-Committee Discharges Licensing functions as delegated by the Licensing Committee Considers new applications and review of applications for licenses across the borough Considers representations from street traders against the refusal or revocation of a license in certain cases Three Members drawn from the overall pool of the Licensing Committee of 10 members.

Planning Applications Committee Planning Applications Committee exercises the powers, functions and duties of the Council in relation to planning and development control matters Planning Applications Committee determines application which are recommended for approval, applications which are recommended for approval but which has received an objection, applications which the Assistant Director Planning & Development

wishes to refer to the Committee, any application upon request form a Member of the Council, etc. Membership consists of 7 members.