Two years’ work is about to get underway to ensure Bristol City Council is ready to replace an elected mayor and cabinet with a committee system.
The new way the local authority will be run – voted for in a legally binding referendum on Thursday (May 5) by an overwhelming majority of 59 per cent to 41 per cent – comes into force in 2024 after current mayor Marvin Rees finishes his second term in office. It will see groups of councillors make decisions, with full council of all 70 elected members required to set the budget, council tax and key governance policies.
Other powers will be delegated to committees, such as housing, finance & performance, education, transport, environment, adult social care and children’s services. The process is expected to begin when the referendum is ratified at an extraordinary meeting of full council on Tuesday, May 24.
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Bristol City Council will then need to develop a process to design the committee system and set out the specifics of how it will work, which will involve discussions between cross-party members and officers as well as input from civic governance experts and the public. Shortly after the result of the city-wide poll was announced around 3.30am on Friday, Lib Dem group leader Cllr Jos Clark said: “Inside the council we will now spend time bringing everyone around the table and working out the details.
“While Bristol has chosen the committee system tonight, it won’t take effect until 2024 and the process for designing it is only just about to start. Both expert advice and public input will be an important part of that over the coming months.”
In a press release on Friday (May 6), the city council said: “Bristol will adopt a committee system of governance in May 2024 following the declaration of results in the referendum on how the city is run. Work will be carried out over the next two years to develop plans for the new arrangements, and the new system of governance will be implemented in May 2024. Further detail regarding this process and the emerging model will be made available in due course.”
A document on the authority’s website, outlining what would happen if the vote favoured moving to a committee system, said: “The detailed structure of policy/service committees will be agreed as part of the transitional arrangements.
“The authority would also establish a number of regulatory committees, with responsibility for matters such as planning, licensing, audit and human resources. The detailed structure of regulatory committees will be agreed as part of the transitional arrangements.”
Bristol mayor, Marvin Rees, has already said he will step down at the end of his current term.
