Constitution

Under the Local Government Act 2000, councils were required to change their political management structures.

Following a public consultation exercise, the Council chose a Leader and Cabinet model which began on 1 October 2001.

The Council has agreed a new Constitution which sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people.

You can read and/or print off the Constitution by clicking on the links below. The document has been divided into sections which are in both PDF and Word format.

Constitution - Contents (for Index please see Part 12)
Part 1 - Summary and Explanation (pages A1 - A4)
Part 2 - Articles of the Constitution (pages B1 - B26)
Part 3 - Responsibility for Functions (pages C1 - C10 included in attachment below)
Members of the Cabinet (pages C1 - C16)
Part 4 - Rules of Procedure:
Council Procedure Rules (pages D1 - D25)
Access to Information Procedure Rules (pages E1 - E11)
Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules (pages F1 - F5)
Cabinet Procedure Rules (pages G1 - G6)
Scrutiny Procedure Rules (pages H1 - H11)
Financial Procedure Rules (pages I1 - I15)
Contract Procedure Rules (pages J1 - J17)
Officer Employment Procedure Rules (pages K1 - K3)
Part 5 - Codes and Protocols:
Code of Conduct of Members of the Council (pages L1 - L10)
Register of Interests of Members and Co-opted Members of the Council (page M1)
Officers' Code of Conduct (pages N1 - N11)
Code for Members and Officers on Planning Matters (pages O1 - O15)
Protocol on Member/Officer Relations (pages P1 - P3)
Protocol on Key Decisions (pages Q1 - Q2)
Part 6 - Members' Allowances Scheme (pages R1 - R7)
Part 7 - Management Structure (page S1)
Part 8 - Scheme of Delegation to Officers (pages T1 - T31)
Part 9 - Public Speaking at Planning Applications Committee (pages U1 - U4)
Part 10 - Remits of Council, Committees etc (pages V1 - V24)
Part 11 - Role Profiles (pages W1 - W11)
Part 12 - Constitution Index