No change to decision making structures yet

The members of each committee can be seen here

Residents will have to wait and see how quickly the promised new structural arrangements, and accompanying transparency processes, will be brought forward.

It seems likely that there will be a return to something like the old “Executive Member Advisory Panels” (EMAP) which were introduced in 2003. From 2007, when the Council again became “balanced” (hung), the EMAPs took on a more significant policy making role.

The process allowed members of an all party committee to debate – after public consultation – upcoming issues which were then referred, with policy advice,  for decision by the Executive member. Invariably the Executive member accepted the offered “advice” (or referred the matter  to the full Executive for decision).

At the time is was the nearest option available to the Council which included the discursive elements of the “committee system” style decision taking process.