Councillors and Council Officers
Councillors and Council Officers Webpage
The Council
The Council consists of 51 councillors, also known as Elected Members, who are elected by the local community. Councillors determine matters of policy on behalf of the local community and make key decisions, such as the annual budget and Council Tax. They are not directly involved in the day to day management and delivery of services, as these are dealt with by council officers.
Each councillor represents a specific area (a ward) and serves for a period of four years. The work of a councillor can include holding surgeries to help local people, supporting local organisations, campaigning on local issues, and developing links with all parts of the community.
Councillors are not paid a salary or wages, but receive a basic taxable allowance and expenses to cover some of the costs of carrying out their public duties. The level of this allowance is recommended by an independent panel. There are special responsibility allowances for the leaders of political groups, cabinet members and certain other posts to reflect additional workloads.
The Council also appoints members to a number of outside bodies, only some of which receive additional payments.
All councillors abide by a code of conduct, part of which requires them to declare any financial interests, gifts or hospitality that could influence any decisions they make.
The Leader
The Leader of the Council is elected by all members of the Council, to serve for up to 4 years (depending on the length of their remaining term of office as a Councillor) at the annual meeting of the Council. The Leader chairs all meetings of the Council’s Cabinet (see below), leads on policy development and implementation and represents Solihull on a range of regional bodies. The Leader also chairs the Board of the Local Strategic Partnership, known as the Solihull Partnership.
The Cabinet
The Cabinet is an executive group responsible for the overall business of the council. The Cabinet comprises the Leader of the Council, who is the Chairperson, and eight other members appointed by the Leader. Each of the members of the Cabinet has a defined portfolio of responsibilities. Most Cabinet Member also serve on regional bodies related to their portfolios.
See the Cabinet Members
Scrutiny
The decisions of the Cabinet are subject to scrutiny by a different group of councillors, who meet in overview and scrutiny panels to check and monitor what the Cabinet does. The Council has established 5 scrutiny boards.
Scrutiny also considers wider areas of council policy and makes recommendations to the Cabinet.
Policy and scrutiny committees
Council Staff
Whilst the elected councillors decide the policies, paid employees (council officers) put them into practice. The Council employs approx 8,000 staff directly; these include school teachers, social workers, planners, trading standards officers, etc and others responsible for a wide range of services benefiting the local community.
Councillor and Officer Relations
Members and officers need to work together constructively in partnership in a spirit of mutual trust and confidence to successfully achieve the Council’s objectives. The Council has adopted a protocol and guidance to assist both members and officers achieve good working relationships in the conduct of Council business.
The Corporate Leadership Team
This team is responsible for managing the activities of the Council staff and for advising councillors on the potential implications of their decisions. By law, senior Council staff are not allowed to participate in any party political activity, and are expected to advise and assist all councillors irrespective of their political affiliation.
The Chief Executive
The Chief Executive is Mark Rogers, who was appointed in 2008. The Chief Executive is the senior officer who leads and takes responsibility for the work of the paid staff of the Council. The role of Chief Executive is a full time appointment. Post holders are selected on merit, against objective criteria, following public advertisement. They are appointed by the whole Council.
The Chief Executive works closely with elected members to deliver:
Leadership: working with elected members to ensure strong and visible leadership and direction, encouraging and enabling managers to motivate and inspire their teams.
Strategic Direction: ensuring all staff understand and adhere to the strategic aims of the organisation and follow the direction set by the elected members.
Policy Advice: acting as the principal policy adviser to the elected members of the Council to lead the development of workable strategies which will deliver the political objectives set by the councillors.
Partnerships: supports the leadership and development of strong local and regional partnership working to achieve improved outcomes and better public services for local people.
Operational Management: overseeing financial and performance management, risk management, people management and change management within the council.
Remuneration of Corporate Leadership Team
The list below provides information about the remuneration of the Chief Executive and other members of the Corporate Leadership Team. It also provides information about any additional payments they receive, such as reimbursement of business expenses or payment for running local elections. All managerial staff are subject to annual appraisal, and progression on the scale only happens if satisfactory progress is evidenced.
- Mark Rogers, Chief Executive: £115,343 - £130,111
- Anne Brereton, Director for Places: £94,943 - £107,309
- Phil Mayhew, Director for Business Transformation: £78,175 - £89,917
- Philip Lloyd-Williams, Director of Governance: £78,175 - £89,917
- Paul Johnson, Director of Resources: £94,943 - £107,309
Pension
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) covers council employees and some councillors. The LGPS is a contributory scheme; employees contribute 5.5%-7.5% of their own salaries to the scheme.
Employers' contributions to the LGPS vary depending upon how much is needed to ensure benefits under the Scheme are properly funded, and are set independently.
The rules governing the pension scheme are contained in regulations made by Parliament. Further information about the scheme can be found on: http://www.lgps.org.uk/.