Council Structure

On 19 December 2001, we agreed an amended constitution (subsequently revised in May 2005 and more recently in May 2007), which changed the way in which the County Council makes decisions.

We changed in line with the Local Government Act 2000 - a new piece of legislation brought in by the Government to make local government decision making quicker, more open and more accountable to the public.

From 1 January 2002, the Council's decision making structure was split. One group of councillors sit on the Cabinet, taking the majority of decisions required to implement the Council's policies and budget. Another group of councillors involved in Overview and Scrutiny, scrutinise the Cabinet's actions, hold them to account and help to develop council policy.

There are some decisions which the law does not allow a cabinet to take. So in addition to the Cabinet - Overview and Scrutiny split, we also have a number of "regulatory committees" - such as the Planning Committee and Highways Committee - to take these decisions.

Decision-Making Structure

See an enlargement of the chart above.

The structure means that many councillors will spend less time in traditional committee meetings. This allows them to play a much greater role within their communities, finding out the needs of different communities and representing the views of their constituents to the council. To support this aspect of councillors' work, community based Member Area Panels have been established across the county.

In addition to changing the Council's decision making structures, our Constitution also opens up our decision making procedures to the public. Except when we are discussing confidential information, you can now attend the vast majority of Council Meetings and have the opportunity to ask questions to the Council. We also publish a "Forward Plan" of when we expect to be taking key decisions on major policy and strategic issues.

How the County Council makes decisions.
What is local government?
Previous council structure