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Cabinet Procedure Rules
1. HOW DOES THE CABINET OPERATE?
1.1 Who may make Cabinet decisions?
The arrangements for the discharge of executive functions may be set out in the Cabinet arrangements adopted by the Council. If they are not set out there, then the Leader may decide how they are to be exercised. In either case, the arrangements or the Cabinet may provide for Cabinet functions to be discharged by:
i) the Cabinet as a whole;
ii) a Committee of the Cabinet;
iii) an individual Member of the Cabinet;
iv) an officer;
v) an Area Committee;
vi) joint arrangements; or
vii) another local authority.
1.2 Delegation by the Cabinet
The Cabinet shall ensure that all delegations of Cabinet functions to officers are contained within a comprehensive scheme of delegation for noting by the Council at its annual meeting.
At the first meeting of the Council after the annual meeting, the Leader, on behalf of the Cabinet, will present to the Council a written record of delegations made by the Cabinet for inclusion in the Council's scheme of delegation at Part 3 to this Constitution. The document presented by the Leader will contain the following information about Cabinet functions in relation to the coming year:
(i) the extent of any authority delegated to Cabinet Members individually, including details of the limitation on their authority;
(ii) the terms of reference and constitution of such Cabinet Committees as the Cabinet appoints and the names of Cabinet Members appointed to them; and
(iii) the nature and extent of any delegation of Cabinet functions to Area Committees, any other authority or any joint arrangements and the names of those Cabinet Members appointed to any joint Committee for the coming year.
1.3 Sub-delegation of Cabinet functions
(a) Where the Cabinet, a Committee of the Cabinet or an individual Member of the Cabinet is responsible for a Cabinet function, they may delegate further to an Area Committee, joint arrangements or an officer.
(b) Unless the Council directs otherwise then the Cabinet may delegate further to a Committee of the Cabinet or to an officer.
(c) Unless the Leader directs otherwise, a Committee of the Cabinet to whom functions have been delegated may delegate further to an officer.
(d) Even where Cabinet functions have been delegated, that fact does not prevent the discharge of delegated functions by the person or body who delegated.
1.4 The Council’s scheme of delegation and Cabinet functions
(a) The Cabinet is able to decide whether to delegate Cabinet functions and it may amend the scheme of delegation relating to those functions at any time during the year. To do so, the Leader must give written notice to the Monitoring Officer and to the person, body or Committee concerned. The notice must set out the extent of the amendment to the scheme of delegation, and whether it entails the withdrawal of delegation from any person, body, Committee or the Cabinet as a whole. The Monitoring Officer will present a report to the next ordinary meeting of the Council setting out the changes made by the Cabinet.
(b) Where the Cabinet seeks to withdraw delegation from a Committee, notice will be deemed to be served on the Committee when the Leader has served it on its Chair.
1.5 Conflicts of Interest
(a) Where the Leader has a conflict of interest this should be dealt with as set out in the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members in Part 5 of this Constitution.
(b) If every Member of the Cabinet has a conflict of interest this should be dealt with as set out in the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members in Part 5 of this Constitution.
(c) If the exercise of a Cabinet function has been delegated to a Committee of the Cabinet, an individual Member or an officer, and a conflict of interest arises, then the function will be exercised in the first instance by the person or body by whom the delegation was made and otherwise as set out in the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members in Part 5 of this Constitution.
1.6 How are decisions to be taken by the Cabinet?
(a) Cabinet decisions which have been delegated to the Cabinet as a whole will be taken at a meeting convened in accordance with the Access to Information Rules in Part 4 of the Constitution.
(b) Where Cabinet decisions are delegated to a Committee of the Cabinet, the rules applying to Cabinet decisions taken by them shall be the same as those applying to those taken by the Cabinet as a whole.
2. HOW ARE CABINET MEETINGS CONDUCTED?
2.1 Who presides?
The Leader will preside at any meeting of the Cabinet or its Committees at which he/she is present, or may appoint another person to do so.
2.2 Who may attend?
These details are set out in the Access to Information Rules in Part 4 of this Constitution.
2.3 What business?
At each meeting of the Cabinet the following business will be conducted:
i) consideration of the minutes of the last meeting;
ii) declarations of interest, if any;
iii) public question time;
iv) matters referred to the Cabinet (whether by the Overview and Scrutiny Committees or by the Council) for reconsideration by the Cabinet in accordance with the provisions contained in the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules or the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules set out in Part 4 of this Constitution;
v) consideration of reports from the Overview and Scrutiny Committees; and
vi) matters set out in the agenda for the meeting, and which shall indicate which are key decisions and which are not in accordance with the Access to Information Procedure rules set out in Part 4 of this Constitution.
vii) urgent matters certified by the Council Manager
2.4 Consultation
All reports to the Cabinet from any Member of the Cabinet or an officer on proposals relating to the budget and policy framework must contain details of the nature and extent of consultation with stakeholders and the Overview and Scrutiny Committees, and the outcome of that consultation. Reports about other matters will set out the details and outcome of consultation as appropriate. The level of consultation required will be appropriate to the nature of the matter under consideration.
2.5 Who can put items on the Cabinet agenda?
The Leader may put on the agenda of any Cabinet meeting any matter which he/she wishes, whether or not authority has been delegated to the Cabinet, a Committee of it or any Member or officer in respect of that matter. The Council Manager will comply with the Leader’s requests in this respect.
Any Member of the Cabinet may require the Council Manager to make sure that an item is placed on the agenda of the next available meeting of the Cabinet for consideration. If he/she receives such a request the Council Manager will comply.
The Council Manager will make sure that an item is placed on the agenda of the next available meeting of the Cabinet where the Overview and Scrutiny Committees or the full Council have resolved that an item be considered by the Cabinet.
Any Member of the Council may ask the Leader to put an item on the agenda of a Cabinet meeting for consideration, and if the Leader agrees the item will be considered at the next available meeting of the Cabinet. The notice of the meeting will give the name of the Councillor who asked for the item to be considered. This individual will be invited to attend the meeting, whether or not it is a public meeting.
The monitoring officer and/or the chief financial officer may include an item for consideration on the agenda of a Cabinet meeting and may require the Council Manager to call such a meeting in pursuance of their statutory duties. In other circumstances, where any two of the head of paid service, chief financial officer and monitoring officer are of the opinion that a meeting of the Cabinet needs to be called to consider a matter that requires a decision, they may jointly include an item on the agenda of a Cabinet meeting. If there is no meeting of the Cabinet soon enough to deal with the issue in question, then the person(s) entitled to include an item on the agenda may also require that a meeting be convened at which the matter will be considered.
2.6 Local Ward Members speaking
Local ward members shall have the right to attend and speak on a local matter at Cabinet for a maximum of 3 minutes before the debate on the matter begins subject to the giving of prior notice to the Leader or Council Manager. A local ward member who has exercised a right to speak on a local matter, may speak again prior to any summing up on the matter by the Leader/Portfolio Holder and the vote being taken on the matter, to clarify any issues that have arisen in the debate. This second speech to be no longer than 2 minutes.
2.7 The relevant Council Procedure Rules set out in Rule 24 thereof shall apply to the Cabinet subject to these Procedure Rules.