How decision making works

North Tyneside Council is composed of:

    An Elected Mayor
    60 Elected Councillors (also known as members)

The 60 elected councillors are elected for a term of four years. Three councillors represent each of the 20 wards in North Tyneside.

The Mayor is directly elected by the residents of North Tyneside to lead the Council for a four-year term.

The Cabinet is also known as the executive and has responsibility for taking key decisions and implementing the Council's policies and budget. The Cabinet is made up of the Elected Mayor, and up to 9 cabinet members. The cabinet members are appointed by the Mayor from the 60 elected members of the Council. Each cabinet member has responsibility for specific policy areas. The Cabinet meets in public, usually once per month, but at least 9 times in a year.

Key decisions to be taken by the Cabinet over the next four months are set out in the Forward plan. All decisions made by the Cabinet are published in the Cabinet minutes.

The Elected Mayor and all councillors meet together as the Council to decide the council's overall policy framework and to set the budget and council tax each year.

The Council annually appoints a number of regulatory and overview and scrutiny committees.

Council meetings provide a central forum for debate and provide an opportunity for councillors and, at designated meetings throughout the year, members of the public, to ask questions about the Council or matters affecting the Borough.

One of the 60 councillors is appointed each year to serve as the Chair of North Tyneside Council. The Chair has responsibility for chairing meetings of the Council and for undertaking civic and ceremonial duties on behalf of the Council.

Those members of the Council who are not cabinet members (non-executive councillors) are able to serve on the Council's overview and scrutiny committees.

Overview and scrutiny is about improving services for the people of North Tyneside by influencing decision-makers.

It achieves this by:

• acting as a critical friend to the Elected Mayor and Cabinet and other decision makers
• investigating issues of interest and concern to communities in North Tyneside
• involving communities in its work
• making recommendations to decision makers on how services can be improved

The Council is able to appoint regulatory and other committees to deal with regulatory matters such as planning, licensing and appeals. These committees are often making final decisions on matters and these decisions do not need approval / endorsement by either the Council or the Cabinet.

The Mayor and councillors are supported by council officers, who are not elected.