This page contains some Frequently Asked Questions by our residents about the East Riding Council. If you have any other questions you would like to see the answers to on this page please e-mail us at County Hall, on Conservative.Group@eastriding.gov.uk.

Who makes the decisions at County Hall?

The East Riding Council is made up of 29 Conservative Councillors, 22 Liberal Democrats, 8 Labour members, 2 SDLPs and 6 Independants. Although no one group has "overall control", the Conservatives, with support from the Labour Group have the majority of the seats on the Cabinet (see below). Any new changes to policy are decided by the Full Council. However, operational decisions and decisions within current policy are made by the "Cabinet". This is a new decree by the Government.

Who is on the Cabinet?

Since last May the Cabinet has been made up of seven Conservative Councillors - who are all portfolio holders plus the leaders of the other major political groups, ie. Labour and Liberal Democrat.

Why is Conservative Councillor Steve Parnaby the Leader of the Council?

As Leader of the largest Group, Cllr Parnaby has also been forced by this Government to take on responsibility to be the Leader of the Council and act as "Spokesman". This means that he may have to announce an "out of policy decision" which may have been forced on the Council by a coalition of the other groups in Full Council. However, protocol demands that once a decision is taken, all Councillors should support this, no matter how unpalatable it may be to them personally.

What about the rest of the Council - what do they do?

The other 58 members of the Council are involved with Overview and Scrutiny - another innovation of this Government. We have 7 such committees each of which looks at a particular area of council's remit and can challenge the Council's policy on any one of them. Since implementing this system four years ago we have started to refine our role and really force some of our officers to examine what we do and why. This process can also result in a committee "calling in" a decision by the Cabinet and taking it to a wider debate at Full Council.

The seven Overview and Scrutiny Committees are

NHS & Health
Safer & Stronger Communities (reducing crime etc)
Children and Young People
Social Wellbeing (Social services and the links with the NHS)
Greater Prosperity (Inward investment, tourism and leisure)
Environment and Transport
Corporate Issues (how well the council is run)

So what are the "Community Aims"?

These are a set of five beliefs set by the Council and towards which we direct all our policies. A kind of "wish list" if you like, but important ideals that affect us all. These are : "Improved Health", "Reduced Crime", "Greater Prosperity", "Healthy Environment" and "Lifelong Learning". We also have a sixth aim within the Council, to be a well-run authority and this commitment is Reviewed and Scrutinised by "Corporate Issues".