By law, local authorities are required to review the way they operate and must adopt new arrangements to come into effect after the local elections in May 2011.

Since 2000, South Hams District Council has had a Council Leader and a Cabinet of eight councillors (operating as the Executive committee). The council proposes to continue with a leader and cabinet, but with some changes to the current arrangements:

• The Leader will be appointed for four years, from the annual meeting of full council in 2011 until the annual meeting in 2015.
• The Leader will appoint up to nine other councillors to form the cabinet (called the Executive Members).
• The Leader and each of the Executive Members will have personal executive powers to spend up to £10,000 on any one project in any part of the district (but not on capital projects).
• All other decisions will either be taken by the Leader and Executive Members sitting together (as they do now) or delegated to a committee of the executive.
• The portfolios to be held by the Executive Members will be settled by the Leader from time to time.
• The Leader will appoint a deputy leader for the same period as himself/herself with powers to act in the Leader’s absence.

South Hams District Council is entitled to adopt these proposals without a referendum being held.

An alternative option would be adopt the structure of having a directly-elected mayor who would have the same powers as a leader and sit with a cabinet of up to nine councillors.