The Conservative group has overall political control of the council.
The executive consists of the Leader of the council and another six portfolio holders who together form the cabinet:
- Leader
- Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development
- Cabinet member for housing and safer communities
- Cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport
- Cabinet member for planning
- Cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling
- Cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability
Members appointed to the cabinet can take individual executive decisions affecting sums up to £100,000 provided they are within budgets and policy framework previously approved by the council.
Similarly, the cabinet itself can take decisions on behalf of the council. Any decisions which affect sums of over £100,000, or are contentious, are key decisions and prior public notice of them must be given in the forward plan.
Chief officers are also able to take some key decisions under delegated powers, but this happens rarely. You can find out more about officer decision making.
The council's overview and scrutiny commission and its panels hold the executive to account for their actions and decisions.
You may find your council's cabinet - going to its meetings, seeing how it works a useful guide in understanding when you can attend such meetings and what documents and information are available to you.
You can access cabinet and cabinet member agenda and minutes by selecting a meeting date from their meeting schedules - here's a list of all council bodies.
The council
Even though the executive now takes many decisions on behalf of the authority, the full council of 40 members still has the final say on certain areas of business, some of the most important being:
- to decide the council's constitution
- elect the mayor
- appoint or remove the leader of the council
- determine revenue and capital budgets, set the council tax and determine any supplementary estimates which are outside the cabinet's authority to spend
- determine the policy framework and any departures from it, other than the policies and proposals which form part of the development plan or local development framework
Please contact democratic services on 01423 500600 or email democraticservices@harrogate.gov.uk for more information on the cabinet.