‘The Council’ can mean the
organisation as a whole, but here we are referring to "full
Council", which is a formal meeting of all Newham councillors
and the Mayor. It meets 6 times a year on a Monday at 7pm
and is a meeting which is open to the public to attend.
At these meetings the Council make major decisions, such
as deciding the council tax and budget
and policy framework documents.
It is the real focus for the whole Council to meet and debate
major issues and to ask questions of the Mayor. To find
out when the next meeting is see the
Calendar.
Annual Meeting of the Council
Full Council has a special
meeting in May known as the annual meeting. At this meeting,
the following will happen:
Announcements by the
elected Mayor: The Mayor makes important announcements
such as the membership of the Cabinet, appointments of
Mayoral Advisers and the Mayor’s scheme of delegation.
See
Mayor
and Executive
Committees: Council
decides the size and membership of committees taking decisions
on its behalf, such as Development Control and Licensing
Committee, the Investment Committee and any other committees
it wishes to set up to deal with ‘non-executive’ decisions.
These decisions are ones that the law says the Mayor cannot
make. Full Council sets up the Overview and Scrutiny Committee
and agrees their size and membership. It also sets up
the independent Standards Committee.
Electing the Chair and
Vice-Chair of the Council: The Chair of the Council
is also known as the Civic Ambassador. She is the civic
leader and Newham’s first citizen, who carries out the
duties formerly performed by the ceremonial Mayor under
the old system. The Civic Ambassador may not be a member
of the Executive, and has a special role as the conscience
of the Council. The current Civic Ambassador and Chair
of Council is Cllr Patricia Holland. For further information,
please contact Stephanie
Nunn on 020 8430 3328.
Ordinary Council Meetings
The ordinary meetings of
full Council provide an opportunity for all Councillors
from different political parties to meet together. A small
number of specific matters such as agreeing the constitution,
awarding the Freedom of the Borough etc. may only be decided
by the Full Council. Full Council will also debate major
policy issues brought forward by the Mayor. It is the opportunity
for Councillors to question the Executive and receive reports
from Scrutiny Commissions. Meetings are controlled through
the use of special procedure rules (more commonly known
as standing orders). These provide a framework for how meetings
will be conducted and spell out the rules that apply for
particular types of business such as Members' Question Time
and the submission of motions and amendments.
Budgetary and Policy Framework
Full Council must by law
agree the Council's budgetary and policy framework. The
Mayor will make recommendations on these plans to Council,
and the Overview
and Scrutiny Committee will also have a say as part
of this process. Council must agree any changes to these
policies.
Policy Framework means
the following plans and strategies:-
Budget:
The budget
includes the allocation of financial resources to different
services and projects, proposed contingency funds, the council
tax base, setting the council
tax and decisions relating to the control of the Council’s
borrowing requirement, the control of its capital expenditure
and the amount of freedom.
The
Constitution: Only the full Council can change and
adopt the Constitution,
which sets out the rules for how the organisation is run.
Members’ Questions at
Council: Members can ask questions of the Chair of a
committee, the Mayor or Scrutiny Chairs at full Council.
This is a chance for all councillors
to ask specific questions about the way the Council is working.
Please contact John
Mattock for further information.
Advice
Leisure
