The Appeals Committee determines appeals by employees against dismissal, or action short of dismissal due to disciplinary action, and in the case of Teachers, against a final written warning, dismissal, or action short of dismissal due to disciplinary action. The Committee also determines the outcomes of stage 3 grievance and stage 3 maximising attendance appeals by employees, all under the Council's HR policies and procedures Since 17 June 2015, each meeting of the committee comprises 3 Members drawn from a pool of 10 Elected Members, 4 of whom are standing Members of the Staffing and Recruitment Committee (or their named substitute).

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee has oversight of a range of functions including the preparation of a strategy for performance review; ensuring that Chief officers establish and implement arrangements for reviewing service performance against objectives; monitoring the work of internal audit; consider matters arising from external audit; the preparation of a strategy for performance review; monitoring the performance of the Council towards achieving policy objectives and priorities; reviewing the implementation of the Council Plan, Service Plan and Service Budgets; monitoring the Council's complaints procedures etc. The Committee also considers petitions and deputations received by the Council.

The pan-Ayrshire committee is responsible for strategy and policy and comprises 13 members, being three from each Council, 1 from Scottish Enterprise (SE), 1 from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) 1 from the business sector and 1 from the education sector. The local authority Chair (and administrative support) rotates on an annual basis. Its core functions are (i) Ayrshire Economic Strategy – final agreement of the strategy; (ii) Approval of major funding decisions including approval of the Business Cases for the AGD; and (iii) Coordination and alignment of Council and partner resources/strategy to ensure they support the most efficient delivery of the Ayrshire Economic Strategy and AGD. This committee is currently chaired and administered by South Ayrshire Council.

The Partnership Board comprises 3 nominees from each Council, 3 representatives of the business sector, 3 representatives of the Higher or further Education sector and 1 representative from each of Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Skills Development Scotland, and Visit Scotland. There may also be provision to co-opt an additional 3 members either from other organisations or on the basis of experience or skills. The Partnership Board has delegated powers, but major strategic and funding decisions require to be remitted for approval to the Joint Committee. In broad terms, the functions of the partnership Board are (i) Development of the Ayrshire Economic Strategy and overseeing delivery of its Action Plan; and (ii) Support for AGD, its projects and the Project Management Office (PMO). This committee is currently chaired and administered by South Ayrshire Council.

The Joint Committee was formed under Sections 56 and 57 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and Section 15 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 for the purposes of regulating the shared discharge of the functions by the Constituent Authorities, namely North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire Councils. The Committee is chaired and administered on an annual rota basis between the three authorities, with South Ayrshire Council assuming responsibility for the year ending in June 2022. North Ayrshire Council will take over for the following year, followed by East Ayrshire Council. Minutes and Agendas for periods administrated by the other two Ayrshire local authorities can be found at www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk and www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk, respectively.

The Cabinet is the main decision making body of the Council. It consists of 6 Members of the Labour administration each of whom holds a specific Portfolio. Meetings of the Cabinet are Chaired by the Leader of the Council. Decisions of the Cabinet may be subject of Call In to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee.

The Education Appeal Committee determines appeals by parents against a decision of the Council acting as Education Authority as to (i) the schools which their child or children should attend, in response to a placing request submitted by the parent and (ii) the exclusion of their child or children. The rules for the formal constitution and membership of Education Appeal Committees are laid down in Schedule 1A of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 as amended. Each meeting of the committee will comprise of 3 members: one Member of Council drawn from a pool of 4 Elected Members, and two Lay Members, drawn from a pool of Lay Members.

The Integration Joint Board is made up of voting members, who are either Councillors of North Ayrshire Council or non-executive Directors of NHS Ayrshire and Arran, and non-voting members made up of persons nominated by the Council, the NHS Board, third sector bodies, users, carers and other key stakeholders. The Integration Joint Board is a separate legal entity from North Ayrshire Council and NHS Ayrshire and Arran and has full autonomy and capacity to act on its own behalf. Health and Social Care functions have been delegated to the Integration Joint Board from the Council and NHS Ayrshire and Arran and the Integration Joint Board is responsible for the planning and operational management of the Services to which the delegated functions relate. The Scheme of Delegation to Officers and Standing Orders relating to the IJB can be found by clicking the "key governance documents" link above.

The Licensing Committee exercises the Council's functions in connection with all licensing matters under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act; discharges functions in relation to safety in sports grounds; discharges functions relating to building standards; and oversees the exercise of all the Council's functions in relation to Parts 7 and 8 of the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004.

The Local Development Plan Committee's remit is to undertake functions relating to the preparation of the North Ayrshire Local Development Plan. Meetings of the Committee are Chaired by the Portfolio Holder for Economy.

The Local Review Body conducts reviews in respect of the refusal of planning permission or the imposition of conditions as determined by the Solicitor to the Council in terms of the Scheme of Delegation to Officers under Section 43(a)(i) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Town and Country Planning (Scheme of Delegation and Local Review Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2008, or where the Authorised Officer has not determined the application within 2 months of registering.

The full Council consists of all 33 Elected Members. Meetings of the Council are Chaired by the Provost or, in their absence, the Depute Provost.

Members of the full Council meet as a Planning Authority from time to time to consider planning applications for large-scale strategic developments which impact on Scotland as a whole or large areas thereof. These relate to energy, sustainable development, transport and waste management. Major planning applications may also require to be referred to a full meeting of the Council (Planning) where they are significantly contrary to the Development Plan (but are otherwise considered by the Planning Committee). Meetings of the Council (Planning) include a mandatory pre-determination hearing. Such applications may also be called in and determined by Scottish Ministers.

Please refer to the information provided in relation to meetings of North Ayrshire Council (Planning).

The Planning Committee discharges the Council's functions as Planning Authority in relation to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and other relevant statutes. Please note that the Council's Local Review Body, rather than the Planning Committee, has responsibility for conducting reviews in respect of the refusal of planning permission or the imposition of conditions as determined by the Solicitor to the Council in terms of the Scheme of Delegation to Officers under Section 43(a)(i) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Town and Country Planning (Scheme of Delegation and Local Review Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2008, or where the Authorised Officer has not determined the application within 2 months of registering.

The Police and Fire & Rescue Committee discharges the functions of the Council in connection with the provision of Police and Fire and Rescue Services within North Ayrshire.

The Staffing and Recruitment Committee considers arrangements for the selection and recruitment of Chief Officers of the Council and also applications from employees for early retirement under the Council's HR policies and procedures. The Committee comprises 4 Members of the Council, namely 2 Administration Members and 2 from the Main Opposition Group. The Cabinet Member holding the relevant service portfolio relating to a particular Chief Officer appointment is also a member of the Committee for business relating to that appointment only. Each of the four standing members of the Committee will have a named substitute who may attend meetings in their place when necessary.

In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, meetings of the Council and its committees were suspended between 20 March and 30 June 2020. During this period, the Council's Scheme of Delegation to Officers already allowed the Chief Executive, to consider and deal with any urgent issues, howsoever arising, subject to reporting back to the Cabinet for information at the first available opportunity. This power was exercised in consultation with the relevant Chief Officer and the relevant portfolio holder. During the period that meetings were suspended, the Chief Executive undertook the following consultation prior to making a decision:- • Matters which would normally go to Council – consultation with 3 Group Leaders and Councillor Murdoch (previously Cllr McNicol) representing the Independents • Matters which would normally go to Cabinet, or a Committee- as per the current scheme of delegation consultation with the Leader (for Cabinet), Committee Chair (other committees) and Portfolio Holder if different • Controversial Council matters- consultation with all Members to get a feel for whether there was likely to be support. ‘Controversial’ is as defined in the Scheme of Delegation. In the interests of transparency, decision notices in respect of matters determined under the emergency governance arrangements were published on the Council's website on a fortnightly basis, together with the relevant officer report.