Committee Structure
As it would be too time consuming and expensive for all 34 to meet every time a decision was needed, the Council has set up a number of committees whose members make decisions on specific areas of business. In August 2001, the committee structure changed from a traditional one (where committees reflected the Council departments e.g. Roads Department and Roads Committee) to an Executive/Scrutiny system.
The Executive makes most of the decisions which stem from Council policies and strategies. Scrutiny is there to ensure, among other things, that the Executive makes decisions which reflect the best option for the Council. Both the Executive and Scrutiny can appoint Working Groups to look at specific business matters. Such a Working Group would be given a subject to look at, then once its investigations were complete, would come back to its parent committee with recommendations on how best to proceed. Whilst the Working Group would have members from its parent committee, it could also draw its membership from other Councillors, from officers of the Council, and also from other organisations or agencies which may have an interest in the subject.
The Executive and Scrutiny committees meet roughly every fortnight, avoiding school holidays where possible. The Council has devolved decision making to local level with each of the Area Committees – Berwickshire, Cheviot, Eildon, Teviot & Liddesdale, and Tweeddale – which meet each month to make decisions affecting their own local area. To comply with legislation, the Council also needs to appoint a number of other committees. These include Education Executive, Development and Building Control, Standards, Audit, and Children’s Panel Advisory.
Further information on the above committees, including agendas and minutes can be found in the Council Papers section of the website.
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