Democratic Support Team
Contact Democratic Support: democraticsupport@plymouth.gov.uk
Executive (Cabinet) Decision Making is the most highly regulated element of the democratic process at the council.
The constitution and scheme of delegation sets out the legal framework to executive decision making and outlines the Council’s processes including those for documenting decisions taken under delegated authority.
The significance of executive decisions will vary, and officers preparing decisions should consult Democratic Support to determine -
- who has the authority to take the decision and, consequently, the flow and processes to be followed
- whether or not it meets the key decision criteria and, if so, is significant enough to require placing in the Forward Plan
- whether or not the decision needs to be formally recorded – and, if so, how.
You can find the templates for a Committee Report or a Delegated Executive Decisions on the democracy section of the document library.
Key Decision Definition and Threshold
Key decisions are usually taken by cabinet, unless the leader chooses to take the decision or the decision is delegated to an officer.
A key decision is an executive decision likely to result in the council incurring expenditure which is, or the making of savings which are, significant having regard to the council’s budget for the service or function to which the decision relates. In determining the meaning of “significant” regard must be had to any guidance issued by the secretary of state from time to time in accordance with section 9q of the Local Government Act 2000.
A decision will be a “key decision” if it is an executive decision -
AND is likely to result in the local authority incurring expenditure which is, or the making of savings which are, significant:
- in the case of capital projects and contract awards, when the decision involves a new commitment to spend and/or save in excess of £3million in total; or
- in the case of revenue projects when the decision involves entering into new commitments and/or making new savings in excess of £1million.
OR is significant in terms of its effect on communities living or working in an area comprising two or more wards in the area of the local authority. (“Significant Impact” in this respect is determined by the Monitoring Officer)
Other decisions which must be published
- Executive Decisions by Cabinet Members – all executive decisions between the Chief Officer limit of £200k and £1million (revenue) or £3million (capital/contracts) (subject to call in)
- Decisions delegated by Cabinet to Cabinet Members (subject to call in)
- Emergency Decisions
Effect on communities
A decision may affect a great number of people, or a number of wards, but not significantly and these decisions shall not normally be regarded as key;
Where a decision is only likely to have a significant impact on a very small number of people in one ward it will not normally be key. But the people affected should be informed of the forthcoming decision in sufficient time for them to exercise their rights to see the relevant papers and make an input into the decision making process;
Consideration should be given to the level of public interest in the decision. The higher the level of interest the more appropriate it is that the decision should be considered to be key.
Call-in
Any decision taken by the Cabinet or by individual Cabinet Members (or key decisions taken by officers) may be called-in when a Member objects to it and then gains the support of three other Members within five working days. The call-In suspends the decision until it is referred to the next meeting of the relevant scrutiny committee.
Delegated (key and non-key) decisions taken by individual Cabinet Members Executive decisions made by individual members of local authority executives are prescribed decisions for the purposes of Section 9G(4) of the Local Government Act 2000 (duty to keep a written record of decisions made by individual members of local authority executives).
Decisions taken by officers
Most key decisions will be taken by the Cabinet collectively and by the Leader.
However, should an officer be authorised to take a key delegated decision they must follow the same processes outlined above.
Not all non-key decisions taken by officers need to be recorded and publicised – that is considered to be far too onerous and disproportionate. However Officer Decisions which are the result of a delegation and/or a Key Decision they must be published.
Officer Decisions for publication must be recorded using the Officer Decision Template which is available on the new decision process page.
Accountability
Officers are accountable to the Council for any decision they make, and with the exception of decisions relating to non-executive functions, may be required to report to, and answer questions from the Overview and Scrutiny Committees respect of any decision.
Members may also call in individual Cabinet Member decisions or key decisions taken by officers before they are implemented and may recommend a course of action when the matter is to be reconsidered by the officer.
A flow chart is available below which sets out the process for gaining approval for either a Cabinet or Delegated Executive Decision. However here are a multitude of different considerations in the decision making process and Officer should take early advantage of advice provided by democratic support.
Who are we?
The Team is part of the Governance and Oversight Section of the Executive Office, which is led by Ross Jago, and is made up of:
- Jamie Sheldon - Senior Governance Advisor
- Rosie Brookshaw-Williams - Democratic Advisor
- Jake Metcalfe - Democratic Advisor
- Hannah Whiting - Democratic Advisor
- Elliot Wearne-Gould - Democratic Advisor
- Joshua Longstaff - Democratic Advisor