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Review Article of the Month - May / June 2013
Overview Articles of the Life of Rochford
Return to Review CONTENTS page
Return to Review CONTENTS page
May / June Review: The Workings of our Local Authorities
Because we have just recently had County Council elections, it crosses our mind that not everyone is clear on their understanding about how Government and, more particularly, local government works so we thought we would devote this current Review page to the workings of local government, so here is s simple a guide as we can make it.
‘Central Government’ in London is a loose term describing the House of Commons (normally about 650 MPs) and the House of Lords (in the region of 755 Lord) and resides in the Place of Westminster (next to Big Ben). As a complete Parliament the role of all these people is to act as the main lawmaking body for the country (the Legislature).
Because we have just recently had County Council elections, it crosses our mind that not everyone is clear on their understanding about how Government and, more particularly, local government works so we thought we would devote this current Review page to the workings of local government, so here is s simple a guide as we can make it.
‘Central Government’ in London is a loose term describing the House of Commons (normally about 650 MPs) and the House of Lords (in the region of 755 Lord) and resides in the Place of Westminster (next to Big Ben). As a complete Parliament the role of all these people is to act as the main lawmaking body for the country (the Legislature).
THE EXECUTIVE: This element of government comprises the Government (the Cabinet and other ministers), Government Departments (Civil Servants) and Local Authorities (mainly County Councils, District Councils [or Borough Councils] and Parish Councils [or Town Councils]). The role of the ‘executive’ is to administer the Law. Basically everything in public life is governed by Acts of Parliament which lay down who in the overall executive will be responsible for doing what.
WHO: In each ‘tier’ of the government executive there are both elected and full-time staff. In central government the elected people are ‘Ministers’ (MPs chosen by the Prime Minister to head a Government Department) and in the three tiers below, the elected members are the Councillors and the full time staff are the Officers. (in the Parish Council the only staff is a Clerk to the Council)
In Essex County there are 12 District or Borough Councils, of which Rochford District is one. (There are also two ‘unitary’ authorities - Southend and Thurrock)
In Rochford District there are 13 Parish Councils plus 1 Town Council (Rayleigh) The local parishes covered by Rochford Life are Rochford, Ashingdon and Hawkwell.
WHAT: In its more simple form, Government Departments deal with ‘big issues’ or large scale policy making and application. Thus ‘central government’ takes the lead in planning for large developments such as airports, while County Councils deal with what is called strategic land use planning and District Councils deal with planning permissions for specific local land use, and Parish Councils mostly act purely in an advisory capacity in respect of their ‘wards’ or areas.
1. Essex County Council, whose base is Chelmsford
See the Essex County Council web-site: http://www.essex.gov.uk/
In the recent County Council elections Rochford District Council executive members Terry Cutmore and Colin Seagers won places, together with other existing District Councillors, Malcolm Maddocks (Con) and Michael Hoy (Green). In our interview with Colin Seagers earlier this year he suggested that he would be able to carry on as a District Councillor as well as a County Councillor, but pressures at County level may dictate otherwise, at least for the two Executive members. Watch this space. Both Colin and the labour candidate Jerry Gibson (who we also interviewed recently) indicated that one of the primary reasons for wanting to be County Councillors was to get a voice for Rochford, especially in respect of highways, which both felt had been neglected in this area by County. Again watch this space! To see Essex Local Authority structures CLICK HERE
2. Rochford District Council
See the RDC web-site: http://www.rochford.gov.uk/
The elected 39 Councillors comprise 31 Conservatives, 4 Liberal Democrats, 2 Green Party, and 2 Rochford District Residents Party
You will find interviews here on Rochford Life with:
Conservative members: Terry Cutmore (leader of the council), Keith Hudson (deputy leader), portfolio holders (i.e. all the other Executive members) Gillian Lucas Gill, Mike Steptoe, Colin Seagers, and Keith Gordon, plus other councillors Heather Glyn and James Cottis, Joan Mockford (present Chairman of the Council) and Simon Smith and Derrick Stansby (previous Chairmen)
Liberal Democrat member: Chris Black (leader of the Lib.Dems)
Green Party members: Michael and Diane Hoy
Rochford District Residents Party members: John and Christine Mason
Officers in Departments are: Information and Customer Services - Ms S Fowler, Finance - Mrs Y Woodward, Legal, Estates & Member Services - Mr A Bugeja, Planning & Transportation - Mr S Scrutton, Community Services - Mr J Bourne, Environmental Services - Mr R Evans
You will find interviews here on Rochford Life with:
Paul Warren (Chief Executive), Sean Scrutton (Chief Planning Officer) and Richard Evans (Head of Environment) as well as Julia Mitchell (Civic Officer) and Janet Cox (People & Personnel manager)
WHO: In each ‘tier’ of the government executive there are both elected and full-
In Essex County there are 12 District or Borough Councils, of which Rochford District is one. (There are also two ‘unitary’ authorities -
In Rochford District there are 13 Parish Councils plus 1 Town Council (Rayleigh) The local parishes covered by Rochford Life are Rochford, Ashingdon and Hawkwell.
WHAT: In its more simple form, Government Departments deal with ‘big issues’ or large scale policy making and application. Thus ‘central government’ takes the lead in planning for large developments such as airports, while County Councils deal with what is called strategic land use planning and District Councils deal with planning permissions for specific local land use, and Parish Councils mostly act purely in an advisory capacity in respect of their ‘wards’ or areas.
1. Essex County Council, whose base is Chelmsford
See the Essex County Council web-
In the recent County Council elections Rochford District Council executive members Terry Cutmore and Colin Seagers won places, together with other existing District Councillors, Malcolm Maddocks (Con) and Michael Hoy (Green). In our interview with Colin Seagers earlier this year he suggested that he would be able to carry on as a District Councillor as well as a County Councillor, but pressures at County level may dictate otherwise, at least for the two Executive members. Watch this space. Both Colin and the labour candidate Jerry Gibson (who we also interviewed recently) indicated that one of the primary reasons for wanting to be County Councillors was to get a voice for Rochford, especially in respect of highways, which both felt had been neglected in this area by County. Again watch this space! To see Essex Local Authority structures CLICK HERE
2. Rochford District Council
See the RDC web-
The elected 39 Councillors comprise 31 Conservatives, 4 Liberal Democrats, 2 Green Party, and 2 Rochford District Residents Party
You will find interviews here on Rochford Life with:
Conservative members: Terry Cutmore (leader of the council), Keith Hudson (deputy leader), portfolio holders (i.e. all the other Executive members) Gillian Lucas Gill, Mike Steptoe, Colin Seagers, and Keith Gordon, plus other councillors Heather Glyn and James Cottis, Joan Mockford (present Chairman of the Council) and Simon Smith and Derrick Stansby (previous Chairmen)
Liberal Democrat member: Chris Black (leader of the Lib.Dems)
Green Party members: Michael and Diane Hoy
Rochford District Residents Party members: John and Christine Mason
Officers in Departments are: Information and Customer Services -
Paul Warren (Chief Executive), Sean Scrutton (Chief Planning Officer) and Richard Evans (Head of Environment) as well as Julia Mitchell (Civic Officer) and Janet Cox (People & Personnel manager)
If you read the various interviews you will catch something of the workings of the Council and particular issues that create different viewpoints. For example, the Conservatives like the Portfolio/Executive/Cabinet system because they say it works well, and gets things done, Chris Black of the Lib. Dems. doesn’t like it because he says it precludes discussion, and both he and John Mason of the RDRP would like to see other parties represented in it, and John Mason has told us he thinks it is an expensive system.
Beyond tht you will find a whole raft of activities, approaches, ideas etc. in these interview which we thoroughly recommend to all our readers - but you will need to set aside some time to do it!!!!
3. The Parish Councils
See Rochford Parish Council web-site: www.rochfordparishcouncil.gov.uk
See Ashingdon Parish Council web-site: www.essexinfo.net/ashingdonparish
See Hawkwell Parish Council web-site: www.hawkwellparishcouncil.gov.uk
For insights into the workings of these councils you will see that we have interviewed
- the Clerk to Rochford, Janice Rigby
- the Clerk to Ashingdon, Kelly Holland
- the Chairperson of Rochford, John Bond
- the Chairperson of Ashingdon, Debbie Constable
.....and various other members of Rochford Parish Council
To see the general activities of a Parish Council see Janice’s interviews.
For details of the powers of Parish Councils, see the document Kelly referred to.
Well there it is! We produce these ‘Review’ pages every two months now and if you followed up each of the links above, you will find we have given you plenty of reading that will fill up the next two months! Our objective with these ‘local government pages’ has always been to create interest in the workings of our local authorities and to reveal the people who are working for our community. We hope you find this and all the other pages about the local authorities helpful.
Beyond tht you will find a whole raft of activities, approaches, ideas etc. in these interview which we thoroughly recommend to all our readers -
3. The Parish Councils
See Rochford Parish Council web-
See Ashingdon Parish Council web-
For insights into the workings of these councils you will see that we have interviewed
-
To see the general activities of a Parish Council see Janice’s interviews.
For details of the powers of Parish Councils, see the document Kelly referred to.
Well there it is! We produce these ‘Review’ pages every two months now and if you followed up each of the links above, you will find we have given you plenty of reading that will fill up the next two months! Our objective with these ‘local government pages’ has always been to create interest in the workings of our local authorities and to reveal the people who are working for our community. We hope you find this and all the other pages about the local authorities helpful.