More Decision Making Powers For Councillors

OXFORDSHIRE County Council?s cabinet is to streamline the way it makes decisions with only one meeting a month rather than the current two.
The following statement from the county council sums up the changes:

Individual cabinet portfolio holders will now take decisions relevant to their areas on many of the issues that have traditionally gone to the full cabinet.
The decisions of the individual cabinet members will be taken in public, in the same way as the cabinet, with opposition and local members, the public and the media able to attend.

Decisions that will still be taken to full cabinet will include:
? Budget deliberations and decisions.
? Departures from established policies/budgets.
? Decisions with major implications for more than one portfolio
? Any matter which the portfolio holder wishes to remit to the full cabinet.
? Any matters in which a portfolio holder has a prejudicial interest.
? Any other matters at the request of any other member of the cabinet.
? Financial and performance monitoring reports.
? Reports from scrutiny committees and reviews.
? Recommendations from scrutiny committees following call ins of earlier decisions.

All papers/agendas for cabinet portfolio holder meetings will be circulated to the public and media, in exactly the same way as cabinet papers are currently sent out.

Councillors and members of the public will have the right to speak at portfolio holder meetings in the same way as they have at cabinet.

Cllr Keith Mitchell, the county council?s leader, said: ?Our aim is to retain complete democratic transparency while rationalising the time required of councillors and officers so that they can focus on their jobs for the benefit of everyone in Oxfordshire.
?I am confident that this new system will achieve those two aims and the decision making process will be as democratic as ever while also being streamlined. I look forward to the new system beginning in September.?