The Council is composed of 66 Councillors elected every four years.  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.

All Councillors meet together as the Council. Meetings of the Council are normally open to the public. Here Councillors decide the Council’s overall policies and set the budget each year. The Council will appoint the Leader who will chair the Policy and Resources Committee. There will be an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions at Council meetings.

(a)  Purpose - Policy and Service Committees are those committees established for the implementation of the Council’s budget and policy framework, with powers delegated from the full Council. 

(b)  Functions - These are known as policy and service committees because their business concerns the Council’s delivery of services to the Council’s area. Their functions are:

(i)  to take decisions on those matters that do not need to be referred to the Council and

(ii)  to examine in detail specific issues or aspects of policy, procedure or service, including performance and risk management, and to make recommendations to other committees and to the Council.