The Leader's role
The Leader of the Council is elected by a vote of the whole Council. Under a new system introduced this year by the government, the Leader is now elected for a four year term. Councillor Chris Robbins was elected Leader by a meeting of full Council on 20 May 2010 and will serve in this post until May 2014.
The Leader chooses a Cabinet of between two and ten members to deliver the executive functions of the Council. Cllr Robbins has selected a Cabinet of eight members. Each Cabinet member has special responsibility for an area of the Council’s work including Resources; Regeneration; Children and Young People’s Services; Health, Adults and Older People; Environment; Communities; Housing; and Leisure, Arts and Culture.
The Leader chairs meetings of the Cabinet and has overall responsibility for making sure residents get the quality services they are entitled to.
The Leader’s responsibilities
The Leader has overall responsibility for the Council’s performance and service provision. The Leader is responsible for finance, the budget strategy, capital strategy and the policy framework as well as the relationship with central and London government and the Local Strategic Partnership.
In additional to oversight of the strategic functions of the Council, the Leader’s portfolio includes regeneration, the Olympics and town centre management.
The Leader delegates executive power to his Cabinet members in other areas of the Council business. Details of the Cabinet members and their responsibilities can be found here.
