Chair of Council

Purpose of Role

 

The Chair will be elected by the Council annually to be the Civic Head of the Council, representing the Council as a whole in all civic and ceremonial matters, and to preside over meetings of the Council so that its business can be carried out efficiently and with regard to the rights of Councillors and the interests of the Community.

 

Our Chair of Council is Debra Owen-Hughes.

 

Chair of the Council

 

Duties and responsibilities

(in addition to those of a Ward Councillor and Chair of a Committee)

Ceremonial Role

The Chair will attend such civic and ceremonial functions as the Council and she determines appropriate, having regard to criteria determined in consultation with the Leader of the Council for which events require a civic/ceremonial presence.

He will positively promote the Council and the District.

Chairing the Council Meeting

The Chair will:

uphold and promote the purposes of the Council's Constitution and to interpret the Constitution when necessary;

preside over meetings of the Council in an impartial manner;

ensure that the Council meeting is a forum for the debate of matters of concern to the local community and the place at which Members who are neither on the Executive nor hold Committee chairs are able to hold the Executive and Committee Chairs to account;

promote public involvement in the Council's activities;

be the conscience of the Council;

be the arbiter in respect of appropriate decisions taken between meetings of Cabinet where the call-in procedure should not apply.