2016 Governance review of Cornwall Council
Who decides?
Cornwall Council makes decisions about a wide range of issues that affect Cornwall, our residents and business owners.
The processes for how decisions are made within the Council about the services we provide are an important part of our ‘Governance’.
As part of the 2016 Governance Review we asked people in Cornwall for their views about how decisions are made about issues that affect them, their family and Cornwall.
Decision making structure in Cornwall
We looked at how the Council operates and makes decisions about the services we provide.
The Review took public opinion into account to reflect and respond to the needs of local people.
The Councils review, known as the ‘Governance Review’ was led by the Council’s Constitution and Governance Committee who made recommendations to the Council.
An independent external panel, known as the Governance Review External Group (GREG) also gathered evidence for the Committee to consider. This included getting the views of partner organisations, and town and parish councils and explored how different models of decision making works in other councils.
Future structure models
The Review looked at three possible models:
- Leader and Cabinet system
- Elected Mayor and Cabinet system
- Committee system
View and download a leaflet with graphics of the models.
You can watch a film about the different models using the links below:
In considering the different models, the review looked at the role of local members and how we work alongside town and parish councils and other organisations in Cornwall.
How was the governance review carried out?
The review was led by the Council’s Constitution and Governance Committee who made recommendations to the Council.
An independent external panel, known as the Governance Review External Group (GREG), gathered evidence during a series of inquiry days from a wide range of individuals and organisations in a variety of ways.
You can view the evidence gathered by the GREG using the links below
- Feedback from Informal Constitution and Governance Committee Minutes of GREG
- Workshop session of Cornwall Executive Group, to explore what a vision of 2021 governance could look like - CEG Workshop Report 21-7-16
- Enhancing the role of Community Network Panels - CN Panel Chairs ACTIONS 21.4.16
Notes from Inquiry sessions:
- GREG review - notes 11 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 12 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 15 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 25 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 26 July 2016
- Note of meeting with Cornwall Association of Local Councils - GREG review - notes CALC inquiry - 23 August 2016
- Note of meeting with Paul Rowsell of DCLG - GREG review - notes DCLG inquiry - 29 July 2016
- Email submissions to the GREG Panel - Cornwall Council Governance Review email submissions
- Email submission from Cllr Fiona Ferguson - Cornwall Councillor representation to GREG
- Mebyon Kernow publication - Towards a national assembly for Cornwall, Mebyon Kernow booklet
Who decides public engagement events summary and public comments
Governance Review External Group (GREG) report
- View the Governance Review External Group (GREG) report of their review
- View the Notes from the All Member Briefing Session to discuss the GREG report
- View details of the Constitution and Governance Committee’s consideration of the GREG report
Key recommendations from the GREG report included:
- A new Leadership Board for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, to be chaired by the Council Leader, bringing together senior representatives of public services, businesses and the voluntary and community sectors. This new Leadership Board would be tasked with taking a joined up and long-term approach to the challenges facing Cornwall and to make the most of opportunities that arise
- That there is no compelling argument to create a new post of elected Mayor of Cornwall.
- A challenge to review the important relationship between Cornwall Council and the 213 Town and Parishes , including the current Community Network arrangements, which are not considered to be working effectively The report strongly advises that the Council works with town and parishes to reform these Community Network arrangements or else they are scrapped and replaced by something that makes a positive difference to locality working .
- That the overwhelming evidence available from all quarters shows the passion, commitment and hard work of Cornwall Councils’ 123 elected Members – the largest number in any council in the country. However, GREG concluded that whilst these elected Members are very busy and hard-working, they appear to be spending a disproportionate amount of their time dealing with the symptoms of issues as they crop up at a local level, at the expense of taking a more strategic approach to addressing the underlying causes. They were also often left feeling disengaged from the big decisions taken at New County Hall. As such, GREG proposed that the Local Government Boundary Commission consider a significantly smaller number of elected members for the elections in 2021 alongside other options.
- Cutting the number of committees undertaking policy development and scrutiny functions within the Council, and making them focus more on matters of greater priority to the public.
- Urging the Council to get out more to people where they are, and to rely less on people turning up at what they termed ‘Town Hall talks’. In particular, GREG urges the Council to work hard at getting more young people involved in the civic life of Cornwall, playing a stronger role in shaping the big decisions that affect their lives.
Further information
You can view other documents, using the links below:
- EASY READ Who decides bite size guide
- Who decides film - Vimeo version
- Who decides - Youtube version
- Who decides? 2016 Governance Review Bitesize Guide
- Governance models leaflet
- Overview of the different governance models
- Timeline for the Electoral and Governance Review 2016
- Overview of terms of reference, key tasks and timescales
- GREG Panel biographies
- Issues to be explored by the Independent GREG Panel
Information from the previous Governance Review in 2012:
Who decides?
Cornwall Council makes decisions about a wide range of issues that affect Cornwall, our residents and business owners.
Continue readingThe processes for how decisions are made within the Council about the services we provide are an important part of our ‘Governance’.
As part of the 2016 Governance Review we asked people in Cornwall for their views about how decisions are made about issues that affect them, their family and Cornwall.
We looked at how the Council operates and makes decisions about the services we provide.
The Review took public opinion into account to reflect and respond to the needs of local people.
The Councils review, known as the ‘Governance Review’ was led by the Council’s Constitution and Governance Committee who made recommendations to the Council.
An independent external panel, known as the Governance Review External Group (GREG) also gathered evidence for the Committee to consider. This included getting the views of partner organisations, and town and parish councils and explored how different models of decision making works in other councils.
The Review looked at three possible models:
- Leader and Cabinet system
- Elected Mayor and Cabinet system
- Committee system
View and download a leaflet with graphics of the models.
You can watch a film about the different models using the links below:
In considering the different models, the review looked at the role of local members and how we work alongside town and parish councils and other organisations in Cornwall.
The review was led by the Council’s Constitution and Governance Committee who made recommendations to the Council.
An independent external panel, known as the Governance Review External Group (GREG), gathered evidence during a series of inquiry days from a wide range of individuals and organisations in a variety of ways.
You can view the evidence gathered by the GREG using the links below
- Feedback from Informal Constitution and Governance Committee Minutes of GREG
- Workshop session of Cornwall Executive Group, to explore what a vision of 2021 governance could look like - CEG Workshop Report 21-7-16
- Enhancing the role of Community Network Panels - CN Panel Chairs ACTIONS 21.4.16
- GREG review - notes 11 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 12 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 15 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 25 July 2016
- GREG review - notes 26 July 2016
- Note of meeting with Cornwall Association of Local Councils - GREG review - notes CALC inquiry - 23 August 2016
- Note of meeting with Paul Rowsell of DCLG - GREG review - notes DCLG inquiry - 29 July 2016
- Email submissions to the GREG Panel - Cornwall Council Governance Review email submissions
- Email submission from Cllr Fiona Ferguson - Cornwall Councillor representation to GREG
- Mebyon Kernow publication - Towards a national assembly for Cornwall, Mebyon Kernow booklet
- View the Governance Review External Group (GREG) report of their review
- View the Notes from the All Member Briefing Session to discuss the GREG report
- View details of the Constitution and Governance Committee’s consideration of the GREG report
Key recommendations from the GREG report included:
- A new Leadership Board for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, to be chaired by the Council Leader, bringing together senior representatives of public services, businesses and the voluntary and community sectors. This new Leadership Board would be tasked with taking a joined up and long-term approach to the challenges facing Cornwall and to make the most of opportunities that arise
- That there is no compelling argument to create a new post of elected Mayor of Cornwall.
- A challenge to review the important relationship between Cornwall Council and the 213 Town and Parishes , including the current Community Network arrangements, which are not considered to be working effectively The report strongly advises that the Council works with town and parishes to reform these Community Network arrangements or else they are scrapped and replaced by something that makes a positive difference to locality working .
- That the overwhelming evidence available from all quarters shows the passion, commitment and hard work of Cornwall Councils’ 123 elected Members – the largest number in any council in the country. However, GREG concluded that whilst these elected Members are very busy and hard-working, they appear to be spending a disproportionate amount of their time dealing with the symptoms of issues as they crop up at a local level, at the expense of taking a more strategic approach to addressing the underlying causes. They were also often left feeling disengaged from the big decisions taken at New County Hall. As such, GREG proposed that the Local Government Boundary Commission consider a significantly smaller number of elected members for the elections in 2021 alongside other options.
- Cutting the number of committees undertaking policy development and scrutiny functions within the Council, and making them focus more on matters of greater priority to the public.
- Urging the Council to get out more to people where they are, and to rely less on people turning up at what they termed ‘Town Hall talks’. In particular, GREG urges the Council to work hard at getting more young people involved in the civic life of Cornwall, playing a stronger role in shaping the big decisions that affect their lives.
You can view other documents, using the links below:
- EASY READ Who decides bite size guide
- Who decides film - Vimeo version
- Who decides - Youtube version
- Who decides? 2016 Governance Review Bitesize Guide
- Governance models leaflet
- Overview of the different governance models
- Timeline for the Electoral and Governance Review 2016
- Overview of terms of reference, key tasks and timescales
- GREG Panel biographies
- Issues to be explored by the Independent GREG Panel
Information from the previous Governance Review in 2012: