Constitution

What is the council's Constitution?

Our Constitution sets out how we operate, make decisions and follow procedures to ensure our processes are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people. Some of these processes are required by law, while others were chosen by us.

The Constitution is divided into sixteen articles which set out the basic rules governing the council’s business. More detailed procedures and codes of practice are provided in separate rules and protocols at the end of the document. In total, there are seven parts to the Constitution.

Article 1 of the Constitution commits us to:

• provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with residents, businesses and other organisations
• support the active involvement of the public in the decision-making process
• take decisions efficiently and effectively
• identify clearly those responsible for decision-making and hold them to public account
• improve the delivery of services to the community.

Articles 2–16 explain the rights of members of the public and how the key parts of the council operate.

Part 4 of the Constitution sets out the Rules of Procedure under which the council, cabinet and scrutiny operates, as well as the rights of access to information for the public.

Our governance committee reviews the Constitution annually and a set of recommendations are submitted to full council for consideration.

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