The role of local committees : Cumbria County Council

The County Council's six local committees have powers to make decisions on a range of matters affecting their local area. Local Committee responsibilities cover:-

Highways maintenance and improvements including road safety, street lighting and traffic management;

school crossing patrols;

appointment of school governors;

public rights of way;

local economic initiatives and community development including Neighbourhood Forums and the administration of community and early years grants.

Local Committee’s encourage public participation. You may ask a question, present a petition, or lead a deputation about any of the matters for which the Local Committee is responsible.

The local committees have five main roles:

Decision making on its delegated budget: Each local committee has a delegated budget. These budgets total around £30m countywide. The lion’s share of budgets are devoted to highways maintenance and improvement, but local committees are also responsible for a wide range of other services and for community grants.

Monitoring the quality of services locally: The local committee monitors the performance of its devolved services and increasingly the different themes in the corporate strategy. this monitoring is undertaken at least annually.

Engaging with local people on issues of concern, and influencing the County Council and other strategic partners in the light of local needs: The local Committee is an advocate for the needs of local communities and has strong links to the local strategic partnerships. Services consult local committees on strategic plans. Critically, local committees influence the County's corporate plan. Community issues are often raised at local committees. This can be either through referrals from neighbourhood forums or through submission of petitions direct to local committees. The local committee chair often represents communities at Cabinet and Local Strategic Partnership.

Helping to develop local projects to respond to community needs. Often the Local Committee can act as a sponsor to promote the development of a local project. This can be through the award of a grant or by providing administrative or other support to ensure that the project develops

Support and developing local partnerships. Often local developments can only proceed through support by local partnership working. The Local Committee plays a strong role in developing this partnerships including the Local Strategic Partnership, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, Market Town Initiatives. The local committee will often nominate individual members to work on its behalf on these partnerships.