How East Hampshire District Council works
East Hampshire District Council is made up of 44 councillors elected every four years. Councillors are democratically accountable to the residents of their ward. The overriding duty of councillors is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their constituents, including those who did not vote for them.
All councillors meet together for full council meetings six times a year. These are held in public, and are used to decide the council's overall policies and set the budget each year.
Chairman of EHDC
The first council meeting of the year (held in May) is devoted largely to appointing the Council Chairman (currently Cllr Pat Seward) and Vice Chairman (Cllr Chris Graham) and agreeing membership of committees and council representatives on outside bodies.
Political Composition
The current political composition of the council is:
Conservatives - 38
Liberal Democrats - 5
Vacancy - 1
How decisions are made
EHDC runs on a 'Leader and Cabinet' model. This works in the same way as the Prime Minister and Cabinet but on a local scale. The political party which has had the most councillors elected by the public forms the cabinet, and elects one of its members as the Leader.
This model was adopted in East Hampshire after the Local Government Act 2000. Following consultation with local people, 84% of respondents felt EHDC should introduce a Leader and Cabinet model, and it was adopted in June 2001.
Cabinet
The Cabinet makes collected policy decisions for the council. Each Cabinet Member is responsible for an area of the Council's work, known as portfolios. The current portfolio holders are:
- Cllr Ken Moon - Leader, Planning and Development
- Cllr Glynis Watts - Deputy Leader, Regeneration and Community
- Cllr Hilary Ayer - Environment
- Cllr Julie Butler - Finance
- Cllr Jennifer Gray - Housing and South Downs National Park
- Cllr Richard Millard - Assets and Contracts
- Cllr David Parkinson - Corporate Affairs
The Cabinet will be advised and supported in its policy formulation role by Panels with particular areas of responsibility and encompassing a broad range of opinion and expertise. In addition it is advised by a number of committees.
The Cabinet has to make decisions which are in line with the council's overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the council as a whole to decide.
Shadow Cabinet
- Cllr Adam Carew - Leader, Environment including Climate Change, Waste and Transport and South Downs National Park;
- Cllr Tony Muldoon - Deputy Leader, Planning and Development;
- Cllr Philip Drury - Community and Corporate Affairs;
- Cllr Zoya Faddy - Housing, Localism and Young People;
- Cllr Chris Wherrell - Business, Finance and Regeneration.
EHDC's Constitution
You can find out a lot more information about how EHDC works by taking a look at our Constitution, which sets out how the council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people.