The Council is composed of 66 Councillors with one third elected three years in four.  Councillors are democratically accountable to residents of their ward.  The overriding duty of Councillors is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their constituents, including those who did not vote for them.

Functions and Powers

(a) Functions – Full Council has a number of specific functions allocated to it by statute.  These include:

·  approving the Council’s Policy Framework

·  approving the Council’s Budget

·  adopting and amending the Constitution

·  establishing committees, agreeing their terms of reference and deciding their composition

·  adopting the Pay Statement

·  appointing the Head of Paid Service

·  adopting the Members Allowances Scheme

(b) Meanings

(i)   Policy Framework: The Council’s Policy Framework means the following:-

(1)  The following plans and strategies where adoption or approval is required by law to be reserved to a meeting of full Council, which will take into account the recommendation of the Policy and Resources Committee or relevant Policy and Service Committee:

— Annual Library Plan (Section 1(2) of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964(1)

— Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy (Sections 5 and 6 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998(2))

— Development Plan Documents(Section 15 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004(3))

— Licensing Authority Policy Statement(Section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005(4))

— Local Transport Plan(Section 108(3) of the Transport Act 2000(5))

— Plans and alterations which together (Part 2 of, and Schedule 8 to,

comprise the Development Plan (thethe Planning and Compulsory

Local Plan) Purchase Act 2004(6))

— Sustainable Community Strategy(Section 4 of the 2000 Act)

— Youth Justice Plan(Section 40 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998(8))

(2)  The following plans and strategies where Council has decided that adoption or approval is to be reserved to a meeting of full Council, which will take into account the recommendation of the Policy and Resources Committee or relevant Policy and Service Committee:

— Council’s Corporate Plan

(3)  Any plans and strategies where the Policy and Resources Committee has recommended that adoption or approval should be determined only by a meeting of full Council.

(ii)  Budget – The approval or adoption of a plan or strategy for the control of the local authority’s borrowing, investments or capital expenditure, or for determining the authority’s minimum revenue provision, which meaning will include:

·  the allocation of financial resources to different services and projects,

·  proposed contingency funds

·  the Council tax base

·  setting the Council tax

·  decisions relating to the control of the Council’s borrowing requirement

·  treasury management functions

·  the control of its capital expenditure and

·  the setting of virement limits.

Responsibility for Functions

Part 3 of this Constitution sets out those and other responsibilities for the Council’s functions, both those above that are reserved to Full Council and those that are delegated to Committees and Sub-Committees, to an officer or to another local authority.