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How the
Council Operates |
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How the Council operates - summary from the Council
Constitution.
The Council is composed of 36 councillors
with all-out Elections held every four years.
All councillors meet together as the
Council.
Meetings of the Council are normally open to
the public.
Here councillors decide the
Council's overall policies and set the budget each year. The leader
of Barrow Borough Council is currently
Councillor
D Pidduck.
Most day-to-day decisions are made
by
Committees.
Committees also
carry out a number of regulatory functions, including dealing with
planning applications, licensing and most other regulatory
business.
Meetings of the
Council's committees are open to the public except where
personal or confidential matters are being discussed.
The Council's Staff
The Council has people working for
it (called 'Officers') to give advice, implement decisions and
manage the day-to-day delivery of its services.
Some officers have a specific duty to ensure that the Council acts
within the law and uses its resources wisely. A
code of practice governs the relationship between officers and
members of the council.
Citizens' Rights
Citizens have a number of rights in
their dealings with the Council.
Some of these
are legal rights, whilst others depend on the Council's own
processes.
The local
Citizens' Advice
Bureau can advise on individuals' legal rights.
Citizens have the right to:
- vote at local
elections if they are registered;
- contact their local councillor about any matters of concern to
them;
- obtain a copy of the
Constitution;
- attend meetings of the Council and its committees except
where, for example, personal or confidential matters are being
discussed;
- petition to request a referendum on a mayoral form of
executive;
- participate in the Council's question time and contribute
to investigations by the overview and scrutiny
committee.
- use the Council's formal complaints procedure to complain
to the Council when dissatisfied with the action or lack of action
taken by the Council on a matter which is the responsibility of the
Council and which has been previously raised by them and where they
remain dissatisfied with the Council's response.
- complain to the Ombudsman if they think the Council has
not followed its procedures properly. However, they
should only do this after using the Council's own complaints
procedure;
- complain to the Standards Board for England if they have
evidence which they think shows that a councillor has not followed
the Council's Code of Conduct; and
- inspect the Council's accounts and make their views known
to the external auditor.
The Council welcomes participation
by its citizens in its work. Further information
on your rights as a citizen can be obtained from the Council's
offices (Tel: 01229 876543) or by calling at Central Reception at
Barrow Town Hall.
- Details of the dates and times of meetings are published at
Barrow Town Hall.
- Copies of agendas and reports, except reports which are
likely to be considered when the public are excluded from meetings
are available for inspection five clear days before the date of the
meeting unless:
(a) The meeting is convened at shorter notice, in
which case the documents will be available from the time the
meeting is convened.
(b) An item is included afterwards, in which case it will be
available from the time it is added to the agenda.
The documents referred to above, together with the Minutes, or a
copy of the Minutes of meetings will be open for public inspection
at the offices of the Council until the expiration of a period of
six years beginning with the date of the meeting.
Background papers, that is documents which disclose material on
which a report or an important part of it has been based and which
has been relied upon to a material extent in preparing the report,
are listed by including details at the end of each such
report. Background papers are open to inspection
for up to four years beginning with the date of the meeting.
Council Information
The Democratic Council
Official Spokespersons
The Mayor of Barrow is Councillor Mr Colin
Thomson.
The Labour Group currently have control of Barrow Council, and
the Leader of the Council is Councillor
David Pidduck.
At Annual Council on 14th May, 2013, the Council nominated the
following Official Spokespersons for the services indicated:-
- Children and Young People - Councillors Miss H Preston and Mr L
McKenna
- Economic Development/Regeneration - Councillor Mr D
Pidduck
- Environment and Planning - Councillor Mrs M A Thomson
- Equalities & Diversity - Councillor Mr M
B Sweeney
- Health and Safety - Councillor Mr R J Pointer
- Health and Wellbeing - Councillor Mrs L M Graham
- Housing - Councillor Mr K R Hamilton
- Human Resources - Councillor Mr D Pidduck
- Leisure & Tourism - Mr C Thomson
- Licensing - Councillor Mr A Callister
- Media - Councillor Mr F Cassidy
- Member Development - Councillor Mr B J Doughty
- Sport - Councillor Mr A Callister
- Wildlife, Heritage & Culture - Councillor Mrs H Wall
Main Location of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council - (See
this location on Streetmap.co.uk)
Town Hall,
Duke Street,
Barrow-in-Furness,
Cumbria,
LA14 2LD.
Opening Hours for Central
Reception.
Monday to Friday, 9:00am -
4:00pm.
Contact details for: