Council Constitution

How can I find out when meetings of the Council and its committees and bodies are taking place?

The Council publishes notices of meetings of the Full Council and its committees. You can find out more about notice requirements in section 15 of the constitution.

The Council publishes notices of meetings, and a programme of upcoming meetings.

How can I find out what will be discussed at a particular meeting?

The Council will publish agendas for meetings, together with any background papers and reports in advance of the meeting taking place. Meetings are also livestreamed and recorded.

Can I ask a committee or body of the Council to look into a particular issue?

An overview and scrutiny public engagement protocol has been established to provide a clear understanding and provide guidance on the procedure by which members of the public can engage with the work of the Council.

You can also submit petitions to the Council, using the Council’s petition scheme. The Council is obliged by law to operate a petition scheme, which sets out:

• how a petition can be submitted to the Council;
• how and when the Council will acknowledge receipt of a petition;
• the steps the Council will take in response to a petition; and
• how and by when the Council will make available its response to a petition to the person who submitted the petition and to the public.

You can read more about submitting a petition to the Council in section 24.1 of the Constitution.

Can I attend meetings of the Full Council?

Members of the public can attend meetings of the Council so long as they are being held in public. Meetings of the Council are also broadcast live on the Council’s website so you can watch them in real time remotely if you wish to do so.

The Council may also exclude the public from a meeting, or part of a meeting, where exempt information would be disclosed. Exempt information includes information that relates to a particular individual or their financial or business affairs, information that is legally privileged or information relating to the prevention, investigation or prosecution of a crime, or other information specified in the Constitution.

The rules around excluding the public from meetings are set out in Section 15.10 of the constitution.
The Council’s obligations to broadcast meetings of the Council are set out in Section 24.2 of the constitution.

The Full Council (all 55 councillors) sets the overall budget and policy framework. Full Council appoints the Leader of the Council; the Leader then appoints the other members of the Cabinet and allocates Cabinet member responsibilities (portfolios).

The Cabinet makes key decisions, though it can also delegate decisions to individual Cabinet members, to committees, to officers, joint arrangements or to other authorities. The Cabinet has 10 members, including the Leader of the Council and each member has different areas of responsibility or portfolios. Cabinet meet regularly around once or twice a month.

Overview and Scrutiny Committees: there are 4 overview and scrutiny committees which advise on policies and hold the Cabinet to account on specific issues

The Planning, Audit and Governance, and Licensing Committees make the Council's regulatory decisions.

There is also a Standards Committee to promote high standards of conduct and support councillors to comply with the Code of Conduct.

Officers (members of staff) can also take decisions under 'delegated powers'; these are outlined in the Scheme of Delegation in Section 14 of the constitution.