Governance
The leader and cabinet model of decision-making, adopted by the city council under the Local Government Act 2000, is similar to national government. The council appoints the Leader (usually a member of the group with the political majority) and he or she appoints up to nine other councillors to serve on the cabinet. The cabinet members, one of whom is appointed Deputy Leader, assume responsibility for different key areas of local governance. The full council meets around ten times a year. There are decisions that only full council can make, these include setting budgets and spending programmes, setting council tax levels and approving major policies and priorities. In addition to the Leader of the Council, the council also appoints the Mayor of Peterborough, the Deputy Mayor, committee chairmen and the Chief Executive. The cabinet and committees report to, and are accountable to, council.
The council's budget for the financial year 2012/13 is £266,106,000 (a 2.8% decrease on 2011/12). The main source of non-school funding is the formula grant, which is paid by government to local authorities based on the services they provide. The remainder, to which the police and fire authorities (and parish council where this exists) set a precept, is raised from council tax and business rates. Following the 2010 Spending Review, the council announced that 11.1% could be cut from departmental budgets to save £65m over a five-year period and up to 181 posts could be lost.
The city council elects a Mayor to serve for a term of one year. The Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Peterborough, Cllr. George Simons (Con. Paston) was elected 126th Mayor of Peterborough on 23 May 2012 and will remain in office until 22 May 2013. The Deputy Mayor is Cllr. June Stokes (Con. Orton Waterville). Although the powers of the Mayor have diminished over time, the role has retained its importance. The Mayor has social and legal precedence in all places within the city unless HM the Queen or her personal representative, a close member of the Royal Family or the Lord Lieutenant is present. The Mayor also has a key democratic role to play, acting as a politically impartial chairman of the council and making sure that proper conduct takes place in the chamber during its meetings. Mayoralty of the unitary authority has been held by the following councillors:
| Tenure | Incumbent |
|---|---|
| 1998–1999 | Mary Beatrice Rainey |
| 1999–2000 | John Ernest Graham Bartlett |
| 2000–2002 | Raymond Arthur Pobgee |
| 2002–2003 | Clifford Stanley Horace Sneesby |
| 2003–2004 | David Raines |
| 2004–2005 | Raja Akhtar |
| 2005 died | John Ray Horrell |
| 2006 | David Thorpe |
| 2006–2007 | Michael Burton |
| 2007–2008 | Marion Yvonne Todd |
| 2008–2009 | Patricia Nash |
| 2009–2010 | Irene Walsh |
| 2010–2011 | Keith Sharp |
| 2011–2012 | Paula Thacker |
The East of England Regional Assembly was based at Flempton, near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. The assembly was created as a voluntary regional chamber by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 and the first meeting was held in March 1999. Following criticism of the regional assemblies, it was proposed in 2007 that they would be axed, losing their role by 2010. It has since been replaced by the East of England Local Government Association who have established a Regional Strategy Board to act as Local Authority Leaders' Board under the provisions of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.
GO East, the Government Office for the East of England, co-ordinated the functions of national government in the region until 2011. The abolition of the Government Office network was announced in the 2010 Spending Review.
Read more about this topic: Local Government In Peterborough
Famous quotes containing the word governance:
“He yaf me al the bridel in myn hand,
To han the governance of hous and land,
And of his tonge and his hand also;”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)