Special meeting to look at leadership arrangements

15 September 2009

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Local people, with an interest in how Woking Borough Council is run, are invited to attend a special meeting on Wednesday 23 September at 7pm in the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices.

In response to the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, the Council has been considering changes to its leadership arrangements, which could see the introduction of either a directly elected Mayor or a Strong Leader model.

In both cases, the role holder would be responsible for many of the Council's key decision-making functions and would serve for a four-year period. But whilst the Strong Leader would be a Borough Councillor, elected by the Council, the Mayor would be directly elected by local residents.

In addition, next week's meeting will also look at the electoral arrangements for Woking Borough Council and, specifically, whether there should be whole-Council elections every four years instead of elections by thirds (where a third of all Councillors stand for election every year, with a break from elections in the fourth year of the cycle). There are clear pros and cons of these options, all of which will be debated at the meeting.

Speaking about the meeting, Cllr John Kingsbury, Woking Borough Council's Leader of the Executive, said: "This is an opportunity for local people to hear at first-hand about some of the changes that local councils, such as ours, could be introducing in the future. They are all part of the Government's plans to devolve more power to local authorities - these are exciting times and I would encourage local people to get involved."

Members of the public are invited to go along to the meeting in advance of a full consultation exercise that is due to start at the end of September.

From Monday 28 September 2009, local people will be able to give their views about the future arrangements through an online form which will be available on the Council's website (www.woking.gov.uk) or by filling in a hard copy of the survey which will be available from the reception desk in the Civic Offices.

Surrey County Council, the Electoral Commission, Woking's Citizens' Panel and all political parties will also be asked for their views which will be incorporated into a paper for consideration by Woking Borough Council in the New Year. All new arrangements must be approved at a special meeting of the Council by 31 December 2010.

Enquiries about the meeting or the consultation should be directed to Frank Jeffrey, Woking Borough Council's Principal Member Services Officer, on 01483 743012 or email frank.jeffrey@woking.gov.uk