Committee Model Review Group

What the Committee Model Review Group is, how to get involved and further reading.

The Review Group 

Following a local referendum in May 2022, the council's governance arrangements changed from a Mayor and Cabinet model to a committee system. ‘Governance arrangements' refers to the way important decisions are made within the Council.

The council's committee system is led by 70 councillors, representing 34 wards. Councillors are elected by the residents of Bristol every 4 years in a city-wide election. More information on the committee system can be found elsewhere on our website.

The structure of the council's new governance arrangements was designed by the Committee Model Working Group, a cross party group of Councillors over a period of 2 years and established by Full Council (a meeting of all 70 Councillors) in January 2024.

pdf Easy Read version of information about the new committee system(4.52 MB) .

The Review Group are responsible for reviewing the new arrangements to assess the effectiveness of decision making and make recommendations as appropriate.

As part of developing the new system of governance, Councillors requested a review take place after 6 months. The review started in November 2024 with recommendations being reported to Full Council in due course.

How to get involved 

It's very important to the review group that they consider the thoughts of the public. Alongside our usual public forum arrangements, you can share any comments about the Committee System via a short online survey.  The group will review the results of the survey later on in the year.

The survey closes at midday on Monday 12 May 2025.

Further reading 

In particular, this may include:

  • leadership, functions, roles and structure of committees
  • policy development and task groups
  • report writing for example, options papers
  • briefings and agenda setting procedures
  • public participation
  • local decision making
  • budget setting processes
  • delegations to officers

All previous and future meetings can be found in the links below, including meeting reports, minutes, and links to the livestreams on YouTube. pdf More information on how to have your say at Council meetings is available on our website(266 KB) .

All Committee meetings are open to the public and held in City Hall, College Green, BS1 5TR.

 

 

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