About The Council

'The Council' can mean the organisation as a whole, but here we are referring to 'full council', which is a formal meeting of all the Hartlepool councillors and the Mayor.

 

The Council meets regularly, around every 6 to 8 weeks, and is a meeting that is open to the public to attend. There are three different types of Council Meeting - Ordinary, Extraordinary and Annual.

 

Ordinary Meetings of Council

Ordinary meetings of the Council provide an opportunity for all Councillors from different political parties to meet together and debate issues of importance and local concern.

Ordinary meetings also give an opportunity to all members to discuss major issues of policy brought forward by the Mayor. It is the forum where members can ask questions of the Executive and receive reports from Scrutiny Forums.

Members of the public, as well as Councillors, can submit questions to be asked at Ordinary Council meetings. If you want to submit a question to Council follow the link at the bottom of the page.

Extraordinary Meetings of Council

Extraordinary Council meetings are generally called when there is an issue of special importance that the Council wishes to discuss. Such meetings can only discuss the matters for which they are called, so the agendas for these meetings are very short. There are very few Extraordinary meetings.

Annual Meeting of Council

The Annual Meeting of Council is held each year in late May. At the Annual Meeting the Council: - 

• Elects the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council. The Chair of the Council is the first citizen of the Borough and it is his/her role to chair full council meetings. For more information on the role of the Chair and Vice-Chair see Article 5 of the Constitution - Chairing the Council.
  
• Appoints Council Committees. Council decides the size and membership of the committees taking decisions on its behalf. These decisions are ones that the law says the Mayor cannot make.
  
• The full Council also appoints the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee and the Scrutiny Forums. 
  
• The Mayor makes important announcements such as the membership of the Cabinet and the Mayor's scheme of delegation.

Further Information

Council Meeting Agendas and Minutes

Council Question Form

 

Contact Details
Email: Democratic.Services@hartlepool.gov.uk Telephone: (01429) 523013