| Democratic Services
Policy and Resources Department
1 Democratic Services, part of Legal & Democratic Services, is part of the Policy and Resources Department of the County Council. The Service is headed by the County Secretary, and consists of 25 staff in total. The charts below show how the department fits into the overall management structure of the County Council, and how Democratic Services operates within the Policy and Resources Department.
2 The Policy and Resources Department brings together the inward and outward looking faces of the County Council. Policy development must be firmly rooted in meeting the needs of the community, and the priorities of public and partner organisations are reflected in the Council’s corporate planning processes. The Department helps the Council to demonstrate and communicate to the public how their views have made a difference to the way the authority works. In an ever tightening financial situation the Department helps to prioritise competing demands and through performance management helps to ensure services are delivered effectively and efficiently. The role of the Department is to help other Services to innovate and improve by providing them with the very best advice and support. This is particularly true of the major ‘Transforming Cheshire’ initiative. Democratic Services primary role is to enable effective political engagement in and leadership of this agenda.
3 The core purpose of the Department is to support the Members of the County Council in their various roles, the Chief Executive and the Management Board through leadership and coordination of the Council’s arrangements for strategic planning and policy development, overall performance, political management and decision making, legal and procedural advice, research and communications.
Democratic Services
4 The core purpose of Democratic Services is to lead and manage the Council’s democratic processes. The key components are:
-
Manage the Council’s political decision making arrangements
-
Manage and develop the Council’s overview and scrutiny arrangements
-
Support Members and their development in relation to their various roles
-
Provide effective and efficient business management systems and processes in support of the Service in meeting its objectives.
Accordingly the management structure of the Service reflects these four main areas.
5 Other important activities are included within this framework, particularly managing the programme of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council through the Civic Office. The Service manages the Members Allowances Scheme, administers the Education-related Appeals, leads on Member Learning and Development and provides services to a number of external bodies (eg Liverpool and Manchester Airport Consultative Committees, Macclesfield Museums Trust and the Probation Board.)
6 The County Council elections are coordinated every four years through Democratic Services. Although the direct administration of the elections is delivered through the six District Councils’ Returning Officers, Democratic Services has the lead role in the new Council Induction Programme for Members, and delivering the County Council’s election results service for the public and the media.
7 The Service has been subject to a Best Value Review and a follow up review through the IDeA in recent times. Democratic Services will play an important role in the ‘Transforming Cheshire’ programme, through supporting Members in managing the change process, and enabling them to carry out new and different activities.
8 The Service is at the very centre of the ‘corporate bridge’ linking the Member and officer structures. It has a central and corporate role in advising on, supporting and coordinating the Council’s formal business in conjunction with Departments and Services.
9 There is daily contact with Members, through a relationship built on trust, mutual respect, confidence and understanding. The Service provides a wide range of support to Members to help them undertake their developing roles as County Councillors. Another dimension to the responsibilities of the Service is to ensure that the Council’s constitutional processes and procedures and propriety standards are followed and that the risk of breaches is kept to a minimum.
10 The Service works closely with all Departments and Services to ensure that support to Members is timely, delivered to a high standard and complies with constitutional requirements where necessary. There is regular contact with Legal Services, to help to ensure that decision making is not subject to challenge. Support is also given to the Chief Executive, the Monitoring Officer and the Section 151 Officer in the discharge of their statutory responsibilities.
11 The Service has been IiP accredited since August 1999. In May 2006, the Council was accredited under the North West Employers Organisation Member Learning and Development Charter and Member Services played a lead role in this achievement.
12 A separate briefing note describes the Council’s political management arrangements. The Council adopted ‘Executive Arrangements’ in March 2002, but the political management structures have been subject to continuous review since that time. The current arrangements came into being in June 2006. They are a reflection of a new direction adopted by the Council for its Member-led activities, and Member Services has had a major role in the change process. The Service will have a continuing responsibility for leading change in the following areas:
a) The further development of the Overview and Scrutiny function, including the external facing Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny and community strategy activities. This is a challenging environment where the demands are increasing, and new skills and ongoing development are required of both Members and staff alike.
b) The continuing need to support Member level learning and development, particularly to help Members adapt to new roles and contribute fully to the change process.
c) Supporting the Council’s local working initiatives, through a system of six Locality Boards and developing the close links needed with the Communities of Cheshire Partnership, Town and Parish Councils and a range of community and voluntary organisations.
d) Ongoing development of the electronic systems which support Member level activity, particularly the Council’s Political Information Network, which has been developed in-house. This activity forms a major part of the Council’s e-governance agenda and supporting and enabling Members to function effectively as Councillors and local politicians.
13 The Service is wholly based in County Hall, Chester. However, many staff are required to travel to different venues within the County to deliver services.
14 The net Democratic Services budget for 2006/7 was £1.926M. Within this, the Employee Pay Budget was £766,000. The Members Allowances Budget (£885,000) is also included within the total budget figure.
|