Executive and its Committees
The Executive is made up of the Mayor and nine Borough Councillors who he has appointed to sit on the Executive. The Executive has overall responsibility for most Council services and for preparing the draft budget and the Councils major policies and strategies for consideration and approval by Full Council. It is also responsible for implementing those policies and spending the budget in accordance with the policy framework and the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules.
Each Member of the Executive – or portfolio holder as they are often called – has responsibility for specific service areas and they have the power to take decisions about the service they are responsible for, provided they keep within established policy and the budget for that service. They are also required to follow the protocol for decision making that has been approved by the Mayor. A formal record is published of any decisions taken by portfolio holders, together with information or reports they have taken into account in reaching that decision.
All Executive decisions, whether taken by the Executive collectively, by a Committee of the Executive, or by individual Executive Members, are subject to the Council’s “call in” procedure. The main features of this procedure are as follows:
- Records of all Executive decisions must be circulated to all Councillors within two working days of being taken.
- Decisions, unless exempted from call in by the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer or the Chief Finance Officer will not be implemented for at least seven working days after they have been taken. This is called the “call in period”.
- During the “call in period” any four or more Members of the Council can call in a decision for Scrutiny by the Scrutiny Committee. Call in notices must be submitted in writing and must state the reasons for calling the decision.
- Once a decision has been called in, it cannot be implemented until it has been considered by the Scrutiny Committee. If, having considered the decision, the Scrutiny Committee itself has any concerns about it, it may refer the matter back to the decision taker(s) who must reconsider it in the light of those concerns. The decision taker may then amend or confirm their original decision which can then be implemented straightaway.
- Decisions which are not called in can be implemented immediately after the call in period has expired.
Members of the public may ask questions at any meeting of the Executive providing that these are received by the Council no later than 10.00am on the third working day before the meeting.
Questions must be submitted in writing and be sent to the Senior Committee Services Officer, Members Services Unit, Town Hall, Bedford, MK40 1SJ or emailed to
arobertson@bedford.gov.ukFive Committees of the Executive have also been established. These are:
- Appointments Committee;
- Grants Committee;
- Rural Affairs Committee;
- Sustainability Committee;
- Ward Improvement Fund Committee.
More information about the Executive can be found on the related pages listed below.
Related PagesCurrent membership of the Executive and composition of Portfolios Article 7 of the Constitution – the ExecutiveResponsibility for Executive functions
Committees of the Executive
Scheme of delegations to Portfolio holders and legal and constitutional framework for delegated decisions Part 6 of the Constitution – Executive Procedure Rules