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Democratic Services

Democratic Services at Brighton & Hove has a variety of functions, but its overall aim is to ensure the smooth and efficient management of the decision-making processes of the Council. Listed below are some things we do:

• manage committees
• oversee member development
• promote democracy
• administer school appeals
• run the Mayor’s Office 

Managing committees

The Democratic Services team works with councillors and officers to administrate and manage the committees of the council. These committees are where many of the council's decisions are made and include, regulatory committee meetings, cabinet meetings, cabinet member meetings and full council meetings. 

We do this by:

• creating agendas for the meetings and writing the minutes
• publishing the Forward Plan. This is a list of what is known as ‘key decisions’- a key decision is one which will either have a significant impact on two or more wards or result in the council saving or spending more than £500,000
• recording committee and cabinet member decisions
• planning the timetable of meetings
• making sure the committees run according to the regulations laid out in our constitution.

Democratic Services provide advice and information to members of the public on:

• how decisions are made
• contact details and information on councillors, MPs and MEPs
• information about individual committee meetings, cabinet meetings, cabinet member meetings and full council meetings 
• information on how to have your say and get involved with council decision making
• advice on procedure at the meetings

Member development

To make sure that council meetings are run as effectively as possible, we need to make sure that our councillors (members) are as well trained and informed as possible.

To do this, Democratic Services runs a diverse programme of training for all councillors. A Member Development Working Group has been set up to pinpoint what training our councillors actually need, and to ensure we get value for money. We use the South East Charter for Member Development as a guide to do this.

Promoting democracy

A crucial part of our role is to promote local democracy in Brighton & Hove. We already publish all meeting agendas and minutes online and webcast several of the council's meetings, which can be viewed online for free for up to six months.  In addition we provide copies of agendas to members of the public at meetings and minutes on request.

Find out more about how you can influence council decisions and make your voice heard.

You can sign up for email alerts when new information about council business you are interested in becomes available on our website.

School appeals

Democratic Services is responsible for organising and administering School Admission and School Exclusion Appeals.

A parent or carer whose child has either not been allocated a place at one of their preferred schools, or whose child has been permanently excluded can appeal that decision. Appeals are considered at formal hearings. The School Appeal section in Democratic Services deals with all stages of the appeal process.

Take a look at our school admissions web pages for more information or contact the School Appeal team:

Tel: (01273) 291228

Email: schoolappeals@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Write to: Democratic Services, Room 130, Kings House, Grand Avenue, Hove.