What the council is and how it works

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 - 32 seats
Conservatives - 17 seats
Reform UK - 8 seats
Green Party - 3 seats
Independent - 1 seat
Liberal Democrats - 1 seat

The borough comprises 62 elected members overall who, together, form the full council.

The full council meets about nine times a year to decide council policy. All 62 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.

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

Overview and scrutiny arrangements

The Local Government Act (2000) requires any council with a Leader and Cabinet model to also have an overview and scrutiny committee.

This committee exists to scrutinise the decisions and policies of the executive, issuing reports and recommendations informed by evidence and understanding of the needs of local communities.

Hounslow Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) provides constructive challenge and drives improvement in public services. It is supplemented by:

three Scrutiny Panels, focused on issues relating to:
- children and young people
- health and adult care
- housing and environment
an OSC Call-In Sub-Committee

Hounslow is also a member of the North-West London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Council departments

Hounslow Council is organised into the following directorates:

Children’s and Adults’ Services
Communities
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 of Resources
Peter O'Brien - Executive Director, Placemaking & Growth
Andrew Cox - Executive Director Strategy & Transformation
Elliot Brooks - Director of Communities

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".