Last chance to comment on Brighton and Hove City Council's new constitution

New constitution - changing the system for Council decisions

See Proposals for a leader and Cabinet system (7 pages PDF)

Residents of Brighton and Hove can comment both as individuals & / or as members of Groups. Comments should be sent to
constitution@brighton-hove.gov.uk by 31 March 2008

Your comment could help to strengthen the function of sustainability within the Council and secure representation for TB&H within the proposed new Sustainability Partnership.

The Council's introduction to the consultation is posted at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1182574

The Council's new proposals

Councillors have approved outline proposals to replace the current committee system with a cabinet and a leader elected by the whole council.

The leader will appoint up to nine cabinet members who will have responsibility for different areas of the council’s work, like finance, housing, schools and the environment.

There will be a number of ‘overview and scrutiny’ committees made up of councillors from all political parties which will provide checks and balances to decisions made by the cabinet members.

Areas of concern

Two areas of concern have been highlighted by TB&H's Liaison With Local Government Group and have been presented in a letter sent via The Hub.

1. We are concerned that it is proposed that the responsibility for scrutinising sustainability should lie with the Environment Scrutiny Committee. We feel very strongly that, because of the overarching focus of sustainable development and the impact all aspects of the Council’s work have on sustainability, this function would be better placed with the general overview and scrutiny commission.

2. We are also concerned to note that within the proposals for the structure of the new Sustainability Partnership which is to replace the Sustainability Commission there is very little specific community involvement. We would therefore wish to make the case for the Transition City movement to be represented within the new Sustainability Partnership, alongside such Groups as the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership and the Wildlife Advisory Group.