Topic

Governance Model

Key lines of explanation

Ø  What governance model will your authority operate? e.g. Committee System, Executive or other?

Ø  The Cabinet model, for example, usually requires 6 to 10 members. How many members will you require?

Ø  If the authority runs a Committee system, we want to understand why the number and size of the committees you propose represents the most appropriate for the authority.

Ø  By what process does the council aim to formulate strategic and operational policies? How will members in executive, executive support and/or scrutiny positions be involved? What particular demands will this make of them?

Ø  Whichever governance model you currently operate, a simple assertion that you want to keep the current structure does not in itself, provide an explanation of why that structure best meets the needs of the council and your communities.

Analysis

North Yorkshire Council is currently composed of 90 councillors, representing 89 Electoral Divisions. One of the Council’s Electoral Divisions is represented by two Members.

It is proposed that the number of councillors is reduced to 89, with each Electoral Division represented by one Member.

Members are elected every four years with the next full Council elections due to be held in May 2027.

Members are given an induction after they have been elected. The Democratic Services Local Area Support Team are responsible for Member learning and development.

The current political make-up of the Council is as follows:

• Conservative and Independents - 47
• Liberal Democrats and Liberals - 14
• Labour - 10
• NY Independents - 10
• Green - 4
• Unaffiliated – 5

The council operates a Leader and Executive model of governance. This model works well and is considered the best option for the council due to the large size of the council and the number of services that the unitary authority delivers. This allows decisions to be made in a timely and efficient manner. The council will continue to review the governance arrangements.

The Executive and its Members have wide ranging leadership roles. They:

·         Lead the community planning process, the preparation of the Council’s policies and the search for Best Value, with input and advice from Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Area Constituency Committees and any other persons as appropriate;

·         Lead the preparation of the Council’s budget; take decisions on resources and priorities, together with other stakeholders and partners in the local community, to deliver and implement the budget and policies decided by full Council;

·         and provide the focus for forming partnerships with other local public, private, voluntary and community sector organisations to address local needs.

Executive Members regularly attend meetings with Corporate Directors and other lead officers within their respective portfolio’s.

Executive members are also appointed to sit on a number of outside bodies, which each have varying time commitments.

The Leader and Executive Members are active in decisions relating to the running of the council and are often a spokesperson for the council in the local press.

Portfolios

Key lines of explanation

Ø  How many portfolios will there be?

Ø  What will the role of a portfolio holder be?

Ø  Will this be a full-time position?

Ø  Will decisions be delegated to portfolio holders? Or will the executive/mayor take decisions?

Analysis

The Executive, consisting of the leader and nine Executive Members, makes most decisions, but decisions about the budget and major policy framework are made by the full council.

The current portfolios are:

·         Leader of the Council, also responsible for communications and emergency planning.

·         Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Finance and Resources, including Pension Fund, Property, Procurement & Commercial, Technology, Transformation, Revenue and Benefits, and HR.

·         Children and Families with responsibility for Inclusion, Fostering and Adoption, Children’s Social Care, Safeguarding and Prevention.

·         Education, Learning and Skills, including School Improvement, Early Years, Apprenticeships, Further and Adult Education, FE colleges and UTCs, Music Service, Outdoor Education, School Admissions, Organisation and Transport.

·         Highways and Transportation including Parking Services, Street Scene, Parks and Grounds, Integrated Passenger Transport, Public Rights of Way, Coastal Protection and Flooding.

·         Open to Business including Planning, Economic Development and Regeneration, Visitor Economy, Broadband, Harbours.

·         Culture, Arts and Housing including Culture, Arts, Libraries, Museums, Archives, Key venues, Leisure, and Housing.

·         Health and Adult Services including Public Health, Prevention and Service Development.

·         Corporate Services including Locality Working and Structures, Stronger Communities, Policy and Performance, Refugee and Asylum issues, Community safety including CCTV, Legal and Democratic Services, Members Support, Elections, Customer Contact, Community Networks and Parish Liaison, Locality Budgets, NYLAF & Household Support and Gypsy and Traveller issues.

·         Managing our Environment covering Natural Capital, which includes Climate Change, Carbon Reduction and Biodiversity, Waste Collection and Disposal, Regulatory Services which includes Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing, Bereavement Services, Registrars and Coroners.

There is not expected to be any changes to the portfolios in the near future.

On average, the Executive formally meets 16 times a year, as well as additional informal meetings. There were 92 Executive reports in the 2023/24 financial year.

The Council’s Executive arrangements delegate decision making to individual Executive members on Executive functions that sit within their portfolio. Before taking decisions within their delegated authority, individual Executive Members will seek advice from relevant Officers.

Quarterly performance and finance reports are presented to Executive to scrutinise. Council strategies are also approved by the Executive, with those listed on the Policy Framework also required to be approved by Full Council.

The current financial threshold for key decisions is £500,000 or 20% of the gross expenditure of the relevant budget service area, whichever is less.

Delegated Responsibilities

Key lines of explanation

Ø  What responsibilities will be delegated to officers or committees?

Ø  How many councillors will be involved in taking major decisions?

Analysis

The Council’s Executive arrangements delegate decision making to individual Executive members on Executive functions that sit within their portfolio. Before taking decisions within their delegated authority, individual Executive Members will seek advice from the relevant Directors and Officers. This approach allows for decisions to be made quickly.

A total of 890 Executive Member decisions were made in the 2023/24 financial year. These are the decisions that were approved (rather than those that are still awaiting implementation or were withdrawn). The number is high as Executive Members also have powers to approve Councillor Locality Budget grant recommendations.

Executive Members regularly attend meetings with Corporate Directors and other lead officers within their respective portfolios.

Individual Executive Members with decision making powers may delegate decisions to Area Constituency Committees, or to Officers.

Non- Executive functions are delegated by the council to committees and Officers.

Committee Structure

The table below outlines the expected number of committees and attendances per year. It is estimated that:

·         510 positions (figures may change)

·         Average 5.7 seats per councillor (figures may change)

Given the large geography of the council, there is a need for some decision making to locality based and there must, therefore, be enough councillors to ensure appropriate representation at a locality level. It was recognised that there are currently no plans to significantly alter the approach to committees, and that arrangements have generally worked well since vesting day of the new authority.

Members have also been appointed to outside bodies and key partnerships. For example, Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, County Council Network, and Local Government Association.

Topic

Internal Scrutiny

The scrutiny function of authorities has changed considerably. Some use theme or task-and-finish groups, for example, and others have a committee system. Scrutiny arrangements may also be affected by the officer support available.

Key lines of explanation

Ø  How will decision makers be held to account?

Ø  How many committees will be required? And what will their functions be?

Ø  How many task and finish groups will there be? And what will their functions be? What time commitment will be involved for members? And how often will meetings take place?

Ø  How many members will be required to fulfil these positions?

Ø  Explain why you have increased, decreased, or not changed the number of scrutiny committees in the authority.

Ø  Explain the reasoning behind the number of members per committee in terms of adding value.

Analysis

The council has six Overview and Scrutiny Committees to review and scrutinise decision- making and the performance of the council. 

Overview and Scrutiny Committees: (see table above for the time commitment required for each committee)

·         Care and Independence Overview and Scrutiny Committee: (16 Members)

·         Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee (16 Members)

·         Scrutiny of Health Committee (16 Members)

·         Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee (16 Members)

·         Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee (16 Members)

·         Housing and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee (16 Members)

There are 16 members per scrutiny committee. This ensures there is political balance, as well as a range of debate and views to be expressed.

The Transition (LGR) Overview and Scrutiny Committee formally ceased as of the 15 May 2024 Council meeting and any outstanding work was re-allocated, in liaison with Scrutiny Board, to the other Overview and Scrutiny committees (with the exception of matters relating to leisure). A new Housing and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 16 politically balanced Members was created.

Any Overview and Scrutiny Committee may appoint one or more sub-committees or task groups either on a standing basis or for a particular purpose or time.

The council also has a Scrutiny Board which comprises of chairs from the six Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

Three Members sit on the North Yorkshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

Statutory Function

This includes planning, licencing and any other regulatory responsibilities. Consider under each of the headings the extent to which decisions will be delegated to officers. How many members will be required to fulfil the statutory requirements of the council?

Planning

Key lines of explanation

Ø  What proportion of planning applications will be determined by members?

Ø  Has this changed in the last few years? And are further changes anticipated?

Ø  Will there be area planning committees? Or a single council-wide committee?

Ø  Will executive members serve on the planning committees?

Ø  What will be the time commitment to the planning committee for members?

Analysis

Prior to April 2023, the council was only responsible for county matter planning applications (including minerals and waste), now the council is also responsible for all planning decisions including major, minor and other decisions.

A small percentage of planning decisions delegated to Members for determination.

There is a countywide Strategic Planning Committee with 15 members. See table above for number of meetings and time commitment for Members.

There are six Area Constituency Planning Committees: (each committee has 7 Members).

·         Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Planning Committee,

·         Skipton and Ripon,

·         Richmond (Yorks),

·         Selby and Ainsty,

·         Thirsk and Malton,

·         Scarborough and Whitby.

Each Area Constituency Planning Committee has 12 meetings per year. The length of these meeting depends on the items on the agenda.

Currently some of the Executive Members do serve on planning committees.

The Development Plan Committee meets on an ad hoc basis. The role of the committee is to act as the main sounding board for the preparation of the Local Plan/ Development Plan Documents, except Neighbourhood Plans.

North York Moors National Park and Yorkshire Dales National Park are also planning authorities in North Yorkshire and make decisions on planning in their areas.

Licensing

Key lines of explanation

Ø  How many licencing panels will the council have in the average year?

Ø  And what will be the time commitment for members?

Ø  Will there be standing licencing panels, or will they be ad-hoc?

Ø  Will there be core members and regular attendees, or will different members serve on them?

Analysis

·         The General Licensing and Registration Committee comprises 25 Members of the Council.  Of the 25 Members, 15 of those Members will comprise the membership of the Statutory Licensing Committee. 

·         The Statutory Licensing Sub-Committee meets on an ad hoc basis and comprises of 3 Members.

·         The General Licensing and Registration Sub- Committee meets on an ad hoc basis and is comprised of 3 Members.

·         The General Licensing and Registration Committee shall have a list of named substitute Members. Those named substitutes can also be appointed to the General Licensing and Registration Sub-Committees. Substitutes must have received licensing training prior to sitting on the Committee.

·         The appointment of substitute Members to the Statutory Licensing Committee is not permitted and any Sub-Committee Members must be appointed from the Statutory Licensing Committee Membership.

See table above for information on number of Councillors, number of meetings and time commitments.

Other Regulatory Bodies

Key lines of explanation

Ø  What will they be, and how many members will they require?

Ø  Explain the number and membership of your Regulatory Committees with respect to greater delegation to officers.

Analysis

The following regulatory bodies support Council business:

·         Audit Committee: 10 Members, as well as substitute Members

·         Standards and Governance Committee: 10 Members

·         Appeals Committee (Homes to School Transport): 5 Members, as well as substitute Members

·         Employment Appeals Committee: 5 Members, as well as additional substitutes. A group of about 12 Members should develop particular expertise and experience on appeals matters, but only five Members should sit on the committee at any one time.  It is intended, therefore, that the Substitution Scheme should be used to vary membership of the committee in order to ensure that the expertise and experience of all Members of the committee, including all Substitute Members, is developed.

·         Chief Officers Appointments and Disciplinary Committee: 10 Members

·         Chief Officers Appointments Sub- Committee: 10 Members

·         Pension Fund Committee: 10 Members

·         Shareholder Committee: 3 Members

·         North Yorkshire Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE): 5 Members

Information on the number of meetings can be found in the table above.

External Partnerships

Service delivery has changed for councils over time, and many authorities now have a range of delivery partners to work with and hold to account.

Key lines of explanation

Ø  Will council members serve on decision-making partnerships, sub-regional, regional or national bodies? In doing so, are they able to take decisions/make commitments on behalf of the council?

Ø  How many councillors will be involved in this activity? And what is their expected workload? What proportion of this work is undertaken by portfolio holders?

Ø  What other external bodies will members be involved in? And what is the anticipated workload?

Analysis

Councillors are appointed to the boards of a number of outside bodies, whether this be due to statutory requirement or upon request of the outside body.

There are currently 111 Outside Bodies that Members are appointed to (see table above). Some of these bodies have multiple Members appointed to them (204 seats in total). The average number of appointments to an outside body per councillor is 2.29. There is a varying level of time commitments depending which Outside Bodies a Member is appointed to.

The list of outside bodies is constantly under review and may be subject to change.

Both the Leader and Deputy of North Yorkshire Council are Members of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. The Leader and some of the Executive Members will need to work closely with the MCA but it is not envisaged that this will lead to a significant increase in workload at this time.

Topic

Description

Community Leadership

Key lines of explanation

Ø  In general terms how do councillors carry out their representational role with electors?

Ø  Does the council have area committees and what are their powers?

Ø  How do councillors seek to engage with their constituents? Do they hold surgeries, send newsletters, hold public meetings or maintain blogs?

Ø  Are there any mechanisms in place that help councillors interact with young people, those not on the electoral register, and/or other minority groups and their representative bodies?

Ø  Are councillors expected to attend community meetings, such as parish or resident’s association meetings? If so, what is their level of involvement and what roles do they play?

Ø  Explain your approach to the Area Governance structure. Is your Area Governance a decision-making forum or an advisory board? What is their relationship with locally elected members and Community bodies such as Town and Parish Councils? Looking forward how could they be improved to enhance decision-making?  

Analysis

Members said the main way they represent and engage with their electorate is through face-to-face interactions such as public meetings for example, Parish and Town Council meetings, community groups, and resident/ tenants’ meetings. Due to the size of the county this does mean a lot of time is spent traveling.

Members said that social media is a key platform for engaging with the electorate, especially the younger demographic. For example, by replying to comments on social media.

All Members are part of one of the 6 Area Constituency Committees:

·         Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee (13 Members)

·         Richmond (Yorks) Area Constituency Committee (16 Members)

·         Scarborough and Whitby Area Constituency Committee (15 Members)

·         Selby and Ainsty (16 Members)

·         Skipton and Ripon (15 Members)

·         Thirsk and Malton (15 Members)

Area Constituency Committees oversee and champion local areas, provide a forum for local issues to be raised, empower and enable delivery of Community Area Action Plans and other local priorities, and hold Division and Executive Members to account. Decisions may also be delegated to Area Constituency Committees.

The geographies of Area Constituency Committees may change, however, it is not anticipated that any changes to the geographies will directly result in an increase in the workload of Councillors.

North Yorkshire has 731 Parishes, with Members regularly attending Parish and Town Council meetings. The number of meetings Members attend depends on individual councillors and the Electoral Division they represent, some attend multiple a week and for a few hours a night. The more rural divisions can have extremely sparse populations, but small settlements can increase the number of individual community meetings that a member is expected to attend. Parish council meetings, in particular, can be extremely time consuming, with some Members associated with 15+ parishes.  Meetings can often be on the same evenings, making it logistically impossible to attend all.

The involvement of Members in these meetings varies, from providing updates on issues within their divisions, to being a point of contact for North Yorkshire Council.

The council has set up five Community Partnerships to bring together local councillors, public sector agencies, communities and businesses to get things done in their local area. This model is currently being trialled, with the aim of rolling it out across North Yorkshire.

The council also has eight Member Champions. Member Champions are elected Members who act as an advocate/ spokesperson for a specific area of the Council’s business. The main responsibility of each Champion is to encourage communication and positive action over the issue they represent. There are currently Member’s Champions for:

·         Young People

·         Older people

·         Climate change

·         Armed Forces

·         Digital

·         Flooding

·         Cycling/ Active Travel

·         Road Safety

Casework

Key lines of explanation

Ø  How do councillors deal with their casework? Do they pass it on to council officers? Or do they take a more in-depth approach to resolving issues?

Ø  What support do members receive?

Ø  How has technology influenced the way in which councillors work? And interact with their electorate?

Ø  In what ways does the council promote service users’ engagement/dispute resolution with service providers and managers rather than through councillors?

Analysis

Members are expected to undertake casework as part of their overall duties as a councillor.

Members sometimes contact Council officers for further information on a particular subject, or the relevant Executive Member, Committee chair or their political groups.

Members do not receive any direct day-to-day support from Democratic Services on their casework. As part of the establishment of the new Council, work is underway to review the support that Members need as they go about their business in their Electoral Divisions.  Part of this includes training and development opportunities.

Members explained that while newsletters were historically used for interacting with residents, most communication is now online, including communication with Parish Councils. There has also been an increase in communication via email. Members also said that local elections were now promoted more through social media, which will continue going forward. However, Members said that the use of digital platforms and social media has not reduced their workload, as most meetings, events, activities still take place face to face. Currently, managing and maintaining social media platforms also creates additional work, however, long-term this has benefits in reaching larger numbers of people.

The Council has a one front door approach to customer service. Customers access support and services via one telephone number, one website, one customer service team, customer queries are then dealt with by the relevant Officer.