The Cabinet and Cabinet Members

The Cabinet is made up of a maximum of 10 County Councillors chosen by the Leader and appointed by Full Council; which is the meeting of all 75 County Councillors.

You can find a list of all 75 County Councillors on CMIS.

Public and private meetings

Essex County Council operates a Cabinet system, similar to the system used by central government. Cabinet meets formally up to 10 times a year. Meetings are open to both the media and members of the public and dates can be found in the Meetings Calendar on CMIS.

The Political Leadership Team (PLT) is the name for the Cabinet Members as an informal collective and where Cabinet Members come together for informal private meetings. To find out more about PLT meetings, see the PLT meetings guide (PDF, 130 KB).

Cabinet Members and their responsibilities

Cabinet Members have executive decision making power and must approve any decision which involves a large amount of money and affects a large amount of people.

The function of the Cabinet Members, and the Cabinet as a whole, is to set the strategic direction and policies of the County Council. They work closely with the employed officers in their service area to deliver these initiatives.

You can find a list of Cabinet Members on essex.gov.uk.