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The Constitution and how decisions are made

The Council Constitution, how we make decisions.

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How decisions are made

Most decisions are made by the Executive.

The Executive decisions

The Executive:

  • is the part of the council responsible for most decisions, which are made collectively rather than by individual members of the Executive
  • is made up of the Executive Leader appointed by the Full Council and currently nine other councillors appointed by the Executive Leader, including a Deputy Executive Leader
  • will normally meet in public except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed
  • has to publish a Forward Plan setting out, as far as can be anticipated, the key decisions to be considered over the coming months
  • has to make decisions in line with our Policy Framework and Budget Framework

If the Executive wishes to make a decision outside either of these it must refer the matter to the Full Council to decide.

Go to the Executive meetings dates and papers

Find out more about:

Regulatory committee decisions

Decisions relating to applications from individuals will in general not be the responsibility of the Executive but will be dealt with by the council's regulatory committees. 

The matters for which the regulatory committees are responsible include planning applications and licensing applications. In addition a number of civic governance matters such as the making of bye-laws and the conduct of elections will be the responsibility of the regulatory committees.

Officer decisions 

Our employees (other than school staff) are often referred to as ‘officers’. This term is used in this Constitution. 

Our officers are employed to:

  • give advice
  • implement decisions
  • manage the day to day delivery of our services

Some decisions are made by officers under delegated powers. These are normally in technical service delivery areas. 

A full list of the decision making powers delegated to officers is set out in Parts 5 B (E) and 5 B (NE) of the Constitution.