Article 7 – The Cabinet

7.01 Role

The Cabinet will carry out all of the local authority's functions which are not the responsibility of any other part of the local authority, whether by law or under this Constitution.

7.02 Form and composition

The Cabinet will consist of the Council Leader (who shall be the Chairman of the Cabinet) and the Council’s Deputy Leader (who shall be Vice-Chairman of the Cabinet) together with at least 1, but not more than 8, councillors appointed annually to the Cabinet by the Council.

7.03 Leader and Deputy Leader

The Leader and Deputy Leader will be councillors elected annually to these positions. They will hold office until:

1. they resign from the office; or
2. they are suspended from being a councillor under Part 111 of the Local Government Act 2000 (although they may resume office at the end of the period of suspension); or
3. they are no longer councillors; or
4. they are removed from office by resolution of the Council.

7.04 Other Cabinet members

Other Cabinet members shall hold office until:

1. they resign from office; or
2. they are suspended from being councillors under Part 111 of the Local Government Act 2000 (although they may resume office at the end of the period of suspension); or
3. they are no longer councillors; or
4. they are removed from office, either individually or collectively, by resolution of the Council.

7.05 Proceedings of the Cabinet

Proceedings of the Cabinet shall take place in accordance with the Cabinet Procedure Rules set out in Part 4 of this Constitution.

7.06 Responsibility for functions

The Leader will maintain a list in Part 3 of this Constitution setting out which individual members of the Cabinet, committees of the Cabinet, officers or joint arrangements are responsible for the exercise of particular Cabinet functions.

7.07 Role of Leader of the Council

The following functions are allocated to the Leader of the Council:

The Leader will have overall responsibility at the political level for orchestrating work in relation to setting corporate priorities and strategic policy direction, and for the presentation of this work to the Council and the wider community. He or she will be its principal spokesperson on corporate and strategic issues. In this context, the Leader will:

1. chair the Cabinet and guide its work, ensuring coherent direction and action and that, where relevant, proposals are made to the County Council for decision within appropriate timescales;
   
2. work closely with other Cabinet members to ensure the development of effective policies, reflecting the principles of Best Value in services;
3. lead the Cabinet work in:
   a. developing corporate priorities and corporate policy direction, including the content of the Best Value Performance Plan;
   b. monitoring performance and preparing an annual report on the performance achieved by the Council;
   c. developing revenue budget and capital programme strategies;
   d. ensuring probity and financial monitoring;
   e. keeping under review the organisation and management processes of the Council, including the democratic structures;
   f. developing, in consultation and partnership with others, a strategy for promoting the social, economic and environmental well-being of the county of East Sussex;
   g. enhancing partnership working and public consultation and participation;
   h. developing a public relations/corporate information strategy;
   i. and guide proposals through the County Council;
4. provide political guidance to the Chief Executive and Directors on the overall corporate priorities and objectives set by the County Council and ensure coherent action by the Council both internally and externally;
5. share in the responsibilities of the Cabinet and have the responsibilities of an individual member of the Cabinet, with a specific portfolio of responsibilities;
6. in consultation with the Head of Paid Service and the Monitoring Officer to draw up a four month forward programme of Cabinet business and to keep it under review;
7. act as an ambassador for the County Council:
   a. promoting its work and acting as its principal political spokesperson;
   b. participating in consultation;
   c. listening to, and taking account of, the views of organisations, the public and businesses; and
   d. representing the County Council at all appropriate levels.

7.08 Role of Cabinet Members

The following functions are allocated to the Cabinet Members:

To work with the Leader and other members of the Cabinet to ensure coherent direction and action by the County Council, acting in accordance with Council decisions and, as part of that, to ensure that the Cabinet is informed of events, activities and proposals and involved in all decisions which should be taken collectively. In pursuance of this:

1. to play a leading role in the management of the County Council and decisions about the services it provides and how they are provided and thereby to make a significant contribution to making the County Council, in the view of those it serves, the best of local authorities;
2. as part of 1. above, to participate with other members of the Cabinet in consideration of steps to: revitalise local democracy through increased public consultation and participation; ensure the creation of Best Value services; strengthen the County Council's ethical framework; and enhance, in partnership with others, the Council's community leadership role;
3. to take a special interest in the activities of a specific department, an area of activity or a specific geographic area of the county, known as the Cabinet member’s portfolio. This may involve taking a special interest in the development and monitoring of on-going objectives or short term objectives to deal with particular issues;
4. to provide political guidance to the Chief Executive and appropriate Director(s) on those activities in respect of which it has been agreed that the councillor should take a special interest, to advise the Cabinet on them and to steer policy developments or changes and other proposals for action requiring the approval of the County Council through the Council. In so doing, the councillor will have regard to the overall corporate priorities and objectives set by the County Council and the need for coherent action by the Council both internally and externally;
5. to exercise executive functions delegated to Cabinet members by the Cabinet as set out in Part 3 of the Constitution;
6. in relation to the County Council’s Best Value Performance Plan, Cabinet members will:
   a) agree corporate priorities and objectives for consideration by the County Council;
   b) monitor performance against the Plan;
   c) review annually the priorities and objectives in the Plan;
   d) prepare an annual report on the performance achieved by the County Council during the previous year;
7. to participate with the other Cabinet members in:
   a) settling guidance which should be given to the County Council on the way in which budgets should be prepared, overall budget priorities and the assumptions which should be made in preparing budgets, having regard to the County Council's overall corporate priorities and objectives as set out in the Plan : and to recommend to the Council an annual budget and a three year rolling budget for planning purposes;
   b) developing a strategy for promoting the well-being of the county of East Sussex and a sense of direction for its communities;
   c) monitoring the organisation and management processes of the County Council to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of the County Council and those it serves and to advise the Council on any recommendations for change;
   d) agreeing a public relations/corporate information strategy and participate in its implementation;
8. to encourage and participate in working with partners and other organisations involved in the provision of services which link with those provided by the County Council or which have an interest in or contribute to the well-being of the county or communities within it;
9. to act as an ambassador for the County Council, promoting its work (particularly in those areas where the councillor has been designated to take a special interest) and participating in consultation, listening to, and taking account of, the views of organisations, the public and businesses;
10. to keep in touch with the views of councillors and take them into account in reaching decisions and, with other Cabinet members, to consider how Cabinet thinking on strategy and policy issues can best be shared with councillors as it develops;
11. to provide information to and appear before overview and scrutiny committees as requested by the committee;
12. to fulfil the roles set out in paragraph 2.03 in Article 2 of the Constitution.