Full Council, Committees and Meetings

The agendas, minutes and financial records for all Council and Committee meetings are open for viewing. The past two years are available to view by clicking on the relevant committee below. If you wish to view agendas and meetings from 2018/19 or earlier, please contact the office.

Full Council meets every two months throughout the Council year to oversee the work of the Committees. Committees are made up of smaller numbers of Councillors and are formed to ensure that specific local issues get attended to in detail. Each committee has set up with a specific remit and set of tasks. They work within regulations, set out in the Standing Orders and in the Terms of Reference for that committee. All committee decisions are approved by full Council before any action from that decision is carried out.

An Annual Town Meeting is held every year in which community organisations are encouraged to report on their activities over the year. It is also an opportunity for the Council to present an overview of its work and achievements since the previous meeting. Additionally the public is welcomed and encouraged to participate in the public question time. The law states the meeting must be held between 1st March and 1st June and this years meeting was held on 23rd March 2023. The date of the 2024 Annual Town Meeting will be confirmed in January 2024.

Please click here to view the current Membership List of Committees 2024-2025

Click here to view the calendar for 2024-2025

Horsforth Town Council has four committees and Full Council:

Full Council

Full Council reviews the work and decisions of all Committees and ratifies those decisions. It agrees committee and working group membership and oversees Council spending. It agrees on the budget for Horsforth each year and allocates monies for community events, some infrastructure maintenance such as benches and the Town Clock, and Christmas lights. It takes regular updates from the local police for Horsforth and discusses and decides on business that does not fall into the remit of a committee, for example, reviewing the internal audit each year.

Planning, Licensing and Traffic

Horsforth Town Council is a statutory consultee for all new planning applications made to Leeds City that sit within the Horsforth Boundary. The Planning, Licensing and Traffic Committee review all new applications to ensure that the character of Horsforth and its conservation areas are preserved. They also monitor licencing applications within Horsforth and will object to any establishment seeking to extend their opening hours by one hour or more per day. All traffic schemes planning by Leeds City Council are reviewed and discussed by PLT who support or object as appropriate. PLT report to full Council on a regular basis to ensure that Horsforth Town Council keeps abreast of any planning, licensing or traffic issues that will have a major impact on Horsforth. The committee meets monthly and members of the public are welcome to attend.

Finance and General Purposes

The Financial and General Purpose Committee has a wide range of duties. It reviews and prepares the budget for Council for the forthcoming financial year, which it submits to Full Council for ratification. It monitors spending by Council by undertaking regular checks and audit of all expenditure and bank accounts; any extra spending that is not specified in the budget but is deemed as necessary has to be approved by F&GP Committee before the committee asks for ratification at Full Council. The committee also assesses the Council’s annual statement of accounts, and reviews the internal Audit report each year. The committee reviews all Council policies and procedures and financial regulations to ensure that they are up to date with current legislation. Finance & General Purpose Committee also consider all complaints against the Council and respond appropriately. Safety issues also fall within its remit, including community safety, crime prevention and home safety schemes where appropriate for Horsforth.

Community and Environment

The Community & Environment Committee is responsible for assessing and administering the grants and sponsorships to community groups throughout the year. It also grants the Good Citizen and Young Achiever awards each year. The committee oversees the Horsforth Matters newsletter, via communication with the Editorial Working Group. Over the years the Community & Environment has purchased and maintained the hanging baskets and flower troughs across Horsforth, partly through sponsorship of Horsforth in Bloom and litter picks have also been organised by members of the committee to keep the town looking clean, which has helped Horsforth be regarded as the best place to live in Leeds.

Staffing and Employment

The Staffing and Employment Committee meet on an ad hoc basis. Meetings are called when needed to discuss matters relating to staff of the Council. This includes human resources tasks such as recruitment, line management of existing staff with regular staff appraisals and consideration and review of employment law.