Councillors and wards

The political composition of the Council is as follows:

The Council elects a Chair each year. As well as taking the chair at Council meetings the Chair carries out a wide variety of civic and social engagements for the benefit of local communities. Each political group has a leader and the leader of the largest group becomes the Leader of the Council.

Chair of the Council (2008 - 2009): Councillor Carla Butler

Leader of the Council: Councillor Ann De Vecchi 

Leader of the Minority Group:  Councillor Tony Nicholson

How are councillors elected?

District council elections are held every four years, when residents who are on the Register of Electors are entitled to vote within their ward. The next elections in Lewes District will be held in May 2011. Voters in each ward will elect the councillor or councillors they wish to represent their views and needs.

What do councillors do?

Councillors decide how the District Council should carry out its work and help to guide it, according to the laws which govern many of its services. The councillors also debate the provision of non-statutory services such as leisure facilities, tourism and conservation.

The Cabinet takes responsibility for decision making while the Council makes policy decisions. Day-to-day operational decisions are taken by officers of the Council.

The Cabinet

The Cabinet has nine members and meets approximately every 6 weeks. It makes most of the more weighty decisions. The Leader of the Council, Cllr Ann De Vecchi is the Chairman. Several Cabinet members have a specific area of responsibility, for which they are the lead Council spokespeople:

A C De Vecchi (Chair)(Policy and Financial Strategy)
E Collict (Lead Councillor for Environment)
J H Freeman (Deputy Leader) (Lead Councillor for Staff and Corporate Services)
P F Gardiner (Lead Councillor for Planning)
J N MacCleary (Lead Councillor for Community)
S Saunders (Lead Councillor for Housing)

T Jones
I A Nicholson
I J White

Decisions relating to the Council's budget and the major policy decisions are decided at full Council meetings, which all the councillors attend.

Committees

The Scrutiny Committee and its Panels are responsible for scrutinising decisions made by the Cabinet and can request the Cabinet to review Council decisions and policies.  The Committee and Panels can investigate matters of concern to the public and councillors.

There are a number of committees - for example, Licensing, Audit, Devolution, Planning, Employment and Standards committees - which have specialised roles.

Finance

All councillors receive an annual allowance and are entitled to claim a travel allowance when attending meetings. A dependant carers' allowance is also available if appropriate. Certain councillors also receive a special allowance, in recognition of the greater responsibilities attached to the position they hold.

The Council employs around 470 employees to carry out its day-to-day work. The senior officers, experts in different areas of council work, give the councillors advice and information to help them make decisions. But it is the councillors who decide which policies should be followed and how the money used to provide the services is spent.

The money the council spends comes either directly from local people through council tax or indirectly through business rates, taxes and government grants.

Open to all

Members of the public are welcome at meetings of full Council, Cabinet, Review Boards and other committees and sub-committees.