Decision Making - The Constitution of the Council
An introduction to the Council's constitution and the Articles of the Constitution, the roles of the full Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny, Committees and information on your rights & responsibilities.
Articles of The Council's Constitution
The Council is currently operating "executive arrangements" under the Local Government Act 2000. This means that most day to day decisions are made by a Cabinet consisting of the Leader of the Council and six Council Members
See the Articles of the Constitution in PDF format below. The full version of the Constitution is a very large file. The separate Articles of the Constitution can be obtained by contacting Democratic Services.
The Full Council
All 51 members of the Council meet together (see meeting dates) to approve the Council's major plans and policies which are implemented by the Cabinet
The full Council has to approve the budget proposed by the Cabinet and each March sets the level of Council Tax
The Council will receive reports and consider recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Boards
The Leader of the Council
The Council adopted the Strong Leader and Cabinet model of executive arrangements from the beginning of the 2010-11 civic year. The Leader of the Council is elected by the Council for a four year term of office. This model has clear lines of accountability, with the Leader appointing the Cabinet and determining the scheme of delegation and individual Cabinet Members having decision making powers.
The Cabinet
The Cabinet takes all the major decisions which need to be made by the Council's Executive. Decisions are also delegated to individual Cabinet Members and Officers. The number of members in the Cabinet is determined by the Leader of the Council.
For details, see The Cabinet.
Cabinet decisions (pre May 2005 and after May 2005) and the Forward Plan are published online.
Scrutiny Boards
The 5 Scrutiny Boards help the Cabinet and the Council formulate and review policy and scrutinise decisions taken by the Cabinet
See details of Scrutiny Boards
Task and Finish Groups
These groups work on specific projects and report to the Scrutiny Boards:
Council Committees
Some functions must be carried out by Committees which report to the Council. The Council has appointed the following Committees:-
Governance Committee
Deals with terms and conditions of staff appointments and constitutional matters
Standards Committee
Responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by Councillors, Co-opted Members and Parish and Town Councillors. See Standards Committee page.
Appeals Committee
Hears and makes arrangements for appeals (in respect of Council decisions)
Planning Committee
Determines planning applications and considers planning policy.
Licensing Committee
Deals with all aspects of premises licensing under the Licensing Act 2003.
Rights of Citizens
- to vote at Council elections
- to attend meetings of the Council, the Cabinet, Overview and Scrutiny Boards and Council Committees (unless confidential or exempt information is to be disclosed)
- to find out from the "Forward Plan" (issued by the Cabinet) key decisions which are to be made by the Cabinet or Cabinet Members
- to see reports and background documents and the record of decisions made by the Council
- to inspect the Council's accounts and make views known to the Council's external auditor
- to bring delegations or petitions to the Council and to ask questions at meetings and decision making sessions
- to make complaints
- to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman
- to complain to the Standards Committee if a Councillor has breached the Council's Code of Conduct
Responsibilities of Citizens
Citizens must not be violent, abusive or threatening to Members or officers.