Council

The Council meeting consists of all 40 Members of the Council and meets 6 times a year in the Town Hall, usually on Wednesdays commencing at 5.00pm. The Council timetable begins with an annual meeting in May when it elects the Mayor of Chesterfield for the municipal year ahead and confirms the appointment of councillors to serve on committees.  Council also appoints the Leader who in turn appoints the Deputy Leader of the Council and it’s Executive, the principal decision making body. Although the Executive (the Cabinet and its members) takes most of the day-to-day decisions in the running of the authority, the meetings of the Council remain the ultimate policy making body for Chesterfield Borough. The Council sets the budget and policy framework (Constitution Part 4) within which the Cabinet must operate. The budgetary framework includes the use of capital resources as well as the revenue budget and setting the council tax. The policy framework is made up of a wide range of plans and strategies, such as the Housing Strategy, the Development Framework and the Corporate Plan. All meetings of the Council are open to the public to attend. Although members of the press and public are not permitted to take part in the discussions, a period of 30 minutes is set aside at the start of ordinary meetings of the Council for members of the public to ask questions about any matter affecting the Borough.