The other component of the kanrei council system was the Senior Vassal Council (jushin kaigi). The "kanrei" presided over the meetings of the council, relayed the decisions reached by the council to the shōgun, and transmitted orders from the shōgun to the council. In this system, regime policy was formulated in consultations between the council and the shōgun, though final decisions were made by the latter. In the beginning, the council was composed of the heads of the three "shugo" families from whom the "kanrei" was regularly selected along with four other heads of powerful "shugo" families: the Yamana, the Isshiki, the Akamatsu and the Kyōgoku. The latter two families were unrelated to the Ashikaga family. This trend of including unrelated "shugo" families into the council continued with the recruitment of the Ouchi, the Sasaki and the Toki families in the next few decades. This trend indicates that powerful "shugo" families, irrespective of kinship, were tied to the regime through the intermediary nature of the Senior Vassal Council: conflict and potential conflict of interests between "shugo" lords and the shōgun was institutionalized by letting the "shugo" lords voice their opinions in discussions within the council.