Payment of allowances and expenses to members

A committee is a group of councillors chosen by the Council to make decisions about an area of service such as Planning or Licensing and Appeals. Councillors appointed to serve on Committees reflect the overall political make-up of the Council. The Council decides the size of committees and appoints the Chair. Committees set the objectives and policy for their service and oversee their implementation by the officers.

The council should have a clear policy on communication with members which should include what information is provided, what support is provided, how the information is provided and who is responsible.

Professional advice to members and the public on democratic services and functions, including advice on the design of the committee structures

Provision, manning and publicity for polling stations, including the payment of staff (exclude manning and payment)

Appointment of a returning officer, the arrangements for the count (including recruitment and payment of staff) and the declaration of results as well as the publication.

The frequency with which elections for council members are held which is determined by the council. Options are whole council (all councillors elected at one time), by halves (half the councillors elected every 2 years) or by thirds (one third of the councillors elected every year with no election each fourth year.

Each council is required to provide a forward plan of key decisions to be made by the executive. The plan is required to cover a period of four months and to be updated every month.

Nominations for honours and awards from the council for staff, members and the community

Provision of induction and training for new members and ongoing development support to existing

By law, the Council must produce an accurate record of all decisions taken and recommendations made by the Council and its Committees and Panels. Where these contain matters of a personal or confidential nature such documents need not be made available to the public but should be circulated to relevant members using appropriate communication channels.

Each council should set up overview and scrutiny committees whose job is to Look back at decisions that have been taken, look forward to future decisions, making reports and recommendations on things that the executive does, as well as other aspects of the council's work, Measure performance and how effective previously implemented decisions have been and scrutinise how well council policies, strategies and services work and suggest improvements.

Offices staffed by non-political officers to enable the authority's elected members (councillors) go about their business in the most effective and efficient way. The group offices are there to provide a full secretarial and administrative support service to the elected politicians.

Provision of member support services, including diary management, secretarial support etc