Frequently Asked Questions
What is a County Local Committee?
There are fourteen County Local Committees (CLCs) across West Sussex (including the Joint Area Committees), divided geographically and by population. The CLC’s membership comprises the local county councillors within each area. Each CLC meets between four and six times a year to discuss the County Council issues that affect their local area. Committee meetings are held in public venues across their area. Everyone is invited to attend and see how County Council decisions are made on local issues. There is also time set aside at every meeting for local residents to have their input and make their views heard on the local issues that matter to them.
What are the Joint Area Committees?
If you live within Arun then you’ll notice your local CLC is part of a ‘Joint’ Committee. They function in the same way as all other CLCs, except that their membership also includes local district and parish councillors. As a result of this they also discuss local district and parish issues and where appropriate make decisions and recommendations on these.
What powers do County Local Committees have?
The committees have decision-making powers over a range of local issues. These range from speed restrictions to the appointment of School Governors. Alongside these formal powers, the committees also listen and respond to the issues and concerns of their local residents and feed them back into the County Council as a whole.
How much money do they have to spend?
The committees have two grant schemes available to them, which aim to improve the quality of life for the residents of West Sussex. The first of these is the Community Initiative Fund (CIF). This is available for ANY community group to apply to. For more information on CIF please click here.
The second scheme is the Parish Initiative Fund (PIF), which specifically supports community schemes led by, or involving, Parish/Neighbourhood/Town Councils. Each committee has £1,200 per year to award.
How do County Local Committees make a difference?
Working together with communities, parish/town councils and other local bodies, the committees are able to identify the most practical, beneficial steps to resolving local issues. Once these issues have been identified and discussed the committee can, where appropriate, make and influence decisions to resolve them.
Examples across the 14 Area and County Local Committees have included
- Responding to residents requests to prioritise the resurfacing of roads
- Using extensive local knowledge to allocate Community Initiative Funding to good effect
- Considering residents’ wishes and prioritising Traffic Regulation Orders accordingly
- Using local knowledge to allocate funding to local businesses via the Village Shops Programme
- Consulting on schools’ reorganisation
- Creating a working group to consider the proposals behind a particular Controlled Parking Zone which resulted in that programme being deferred
- A bus company altering its timetable and routing as a result of being asked to a meeting to hear residents’ wishes and views.
How can I get involved with County Local Committees?
Committee meetings are held in public, in venues across the local area. We publicise upcoming meetings and key items in local community publications, flyers, posters and through Parish Councils. We encourage anyone with an interest to come along and find out more. We also use our ‘talkwithus’ website to provide you with news and updates on each of the committees.
Information on and details for your local councillor are on the ‘talkwithus’ website. Your local councillor can also give you details about your local Committee. You also have the opportunity to directly question the councillors during every committee meeting’s ‘talkwithus’ session. Any question can be asked although we encourage you to contact the team in advance if you require a detailed response on a particular issue.
All of the team’s contact details are available on the website and we welcome any comment or query. There is also a general ‘talkwithus’ email address, which is checked on a daily basis.
Each committee is also planning a number of community events alongside its regular meetings. These events will address local issues and provide you with a real opportunity to be directly involved in exploring community issues and take an active role in developing solutions.
