Our democratic arrangements comprise:
- A Leader of the council
- A Cabinet of ten members including the Leader
- An Overview and Scrutiny Committee working with its three standing scrutiny panels to look at the work of the Cabinet
- Area forums
- Some formal decision making and advisory committees, often created as a result of statutory requirements (for example, the Planning Committee)
Political structure
The council has the following make up:
- Labour - 42 seats
- Conservatives - 10 seats
- Independent - 6 seats
- Green Party - 1 seat
- Vacant - 3 seats
The borough comprises 59 elected members overall who, together, form the full council.
The full council meets about nine times a year to decide council policy. All 59 members discuss and vote on proposals. Formal council meetings are held to agree the council tax base and budget, elect the Mayor and other post holders and decide the main policy framework.
Cabinet
A Cabinet of ten councillors is responsible for bringing forward strategic policy proposals to be considered by the council. This Cabinet is responsible for overseeing the operational management of the council and for ensuring that agreed policies are carried out within the agreed budgetary framework.
Each Cabinet member has a portfolio of responsibility.
See also: Cabinet portfolios
Area forums
Seven area forums are responsible for monitoring the delivery of services in their areas. Up to three local people can be co-opted on to the committees to help with this work.
The area forums are:
- Bedfont and Feltham Area Forum
- Brentford and Syon Area Forum
- Central Hounslow Area Forum
- Chiswick Area Forum
- Hanworth Area Forum
- Heston and Cranford Area Forum
- Hounslow South, Isleworth, Osterley and Spring Grove Area Forum
See also: Area forums
Overview and scrutiny arrangements
Hounslow has a well established Overview and Scrutiny Committee. This committee works with its three standing scrutiny panels to consider issues in detail.
The three standing scrutiny panels are:
- Children and young people scrutiny panel
- Health and adult social care scrutiny panel
- Housing and environment scrutiny panel
These panels may co-opt up to three people to help them in their work and can invite people to give evidence. The results of their reviews are reported to the Cabinet, who are charged with bringing forward proposals for change and improvement.
See also: Overview and scrutiny
Council departments
Hounslow Council is organised into the following directorates:
- Children’s and Adults’ Services
- Communities
- Finance and Resources
- Placemaking and Growth
- Integrated Care Partnerships, Health and Social Care Integration
- Strategy and Transformation
Corporate leadership
The corporate leadership team, responsible for the delivery of council services, is as follows:
- Mandy Skinner - Chief Executive
- Steven Forbes - Executive Director, Children's and Adults' Services
- Martin Waddington - Director, ICP Health and Social Care Integration
- Jake Bacchus - Executive Director, Finance and Resources
- Peter O'Brien - Executive Director, Placemaking & Growth
- Andrew Cox - Executive Director Strategy & Transformation
- Elliot Brooks - Director of Communities
See also: Corporate Leadership and Directorate structure charts 2026 (PDF)
The Mayor
The Mayor of Hounslow is a ceremonial role and is elected each year at the annual meeting of Borough Council in May.
The role of the mayor is to represent the council in the local community as the borough's "first citizen".
See also: Mayor of Hounslow
