How the Council works

The Council's Constitution sets out how the democratic process within the Council operates and how decisions are made. It details the procedures that are followed to ensure that decisions are made in accordance with the law and in a way that is transparent and accountable to local people.

The purpose of the Constitution document is:

• To increase understanding of how the Council and local democracy works in practice
• To enable the Council to provide clear leadership to its communities in partnership with residents businesses and other organisations
• To support the active involvement of citizens in the process of local authority decision making
• To help Councillors represent their constituents more effectively
• To enable decisions to be taken efficiently, effectively and lawfully
• To create a powerful and effective means of holding decision makers to public account
• To ensure that no-one will review or scrutinise a decision in which they were directly involved
• To ensure that those responsible for decision making are clearly identifiable to local citizens and that they explain the reasons for those decisions
• To provide a means of improving the delivery of services to communities
• To ensure quality in service delivery
• To ensure access to services, which reflects the diversity and needs of the communities

The Council welcomes views from residents and businesses on whether changes should be made to the document to improve the way in which it conducts its business and promote a better understanding of the decision making process.