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Last revised: 22 September 2008

How the Council Operates

The Council is now composed of 43 Councillors elected together every four years. Councillors are democratically accountable to the residents (electorate) of their wards. The overriding duty of Councillors is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their constituents, including to those who did not vote for them.

Councillors have to agree to follow a Code of Conduct to ensure high standards in the way they undertake their duties. The Standards Committee assists in training and advising them on the Code of Conduct. All Councillors meet together as the Council. Meetings of the Council are open to the public (although there is a right of exclusion for private and confidential business). Here Councillors decide the Council’s overall policies and set the budget each year. The Council appoints the various committees of the Council and debates and sets the key policies for the District, including an “Annual State of Kennet Debate”.

How decisions are made

Many day-to-day decisions and key responsibilities are carried out by the Council’s three Executive (Policy) Committees or by senior officers of the Council under delegated authority acting within policy guidelines approved by Members. The three Executive committees undertake the development of these policy guidelines: these are the Resources Executive Committee, the Community Development Executive Committee and the Planning Policies Executive Committee. Planning applications, licensing and other regulatory matters are dealt with by the Regulatory Committee (or by sub-committees on their behalf). The Human Resources Committee deals exclusively with staffing matters.

Time-limited sub-committees may be appointed from time to time by the committees to deal with specific issues/projects on their behalf.

Meetings of the Council’s committees and sub-committees are publicised well in advance and open to the public by law except where personal or exempt (confidential) matters are to be discussed.

Overview and Scrutiny

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Board supports the work of the Executive Committees and the Council as a whole. It reports, and is accountable to full Council. It will appoint time-limited sub-committees to pursue particular areas of work. In addition the Management Board will: -

(a) allow citizens to have a greater say in Council matters by holding public reviews into matters of local concern. These can lead to reports and recommendations which advise the executive committees and the Council as a whole on its policies, budget and service delivery;

(b) monitor the decisions of the executive committees. They can ‘call-in’ a decision which has been made by an executive committee but not yet implemented. This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate. They may recommend that the executive committee concerned or full Council reconsider the decision.

(c) may also be consulted by executive committees on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy;

(d) have the responsibility to oversee the processes of the Council to ensure it complies with the responsibilities under the Local Government Act 1999 concerning Best Value

Community Area Fora/LSPs

In order to give local citizens a greater say in Council affairs, four Community Area Fora have been created.

Community Area Fora are responsible for debating a whole range of local issues, forming a consensus and making appropriate recommendations to the bodies concerned. They have no executive functions but are a powerful lobby.

They involve local District Councillors, County Councillors and Town/Parish Councillors, as well as various other local persons/representatives who have been co-opted for their interest and/or expertise. Meetings are held in public.

The Area Fora also provides members to serve on the new Community Planning Structure which has been established in the District. There is an overall KennetLocal Strategic Partnership and four matching Community Area Planning Partnerships (LSPs). The LSPs will liaise with, and report to, all the bodies involved in Community Planning initiatives including Kennet District and other statutory partners.

More details are contained in Article 9 following

The Council’s Staff

The Council employs staff (called ‘Officers’) to give advice, implement decisions and manage the day-to-day delivery of its services. Some Officers have a specific duty to ensure that the Council acts within the law and uses its resources wisely (the Head of Paid Service, the Chief Finance Officer and the Monitoring Officer).

A Protocol in Part V (3) governs the relationships between Officers and Members of the Council. It is a relationship based upon mutual respect.

Citizens’ Rights

Citizens have a number of rights in their dealings with the Council. These are set out in more detail in Article 3. Some of these are legal rights, whilst others depend on the Council’s own processes. The local Citizens’ Advice Bureau can advise on individuals’ legal rights.

Citizens have the right to:

  • vote at local elections if they are registered;

  • contact their local councillor about any matters of concern to them;

  • obtain a copy of the Constitution;

  • attend meetings of the Council and its committees except where, for example, personal or confidential matters are being discussed;

  • speak on planning applications at meetings of the Regulatory Committee in accordance with the approved scheme

  • petition to request a referendum on a mayoral form of executive;

  • participate under the Council’s question and answer scheme at Council meetings and at meetings of Policy Committees; (set out in part IV (1) of this Constitution)

  • complain to the Council under its internal complaints process;

  • complain to the Ombudsman if they think the Council has not followed its procedures correctly. However, they should only do this after using the Council’s own complaints process;

  • complain to the Standards Board for England if they have evidence which they think shows that a Councillor has not followed the Council’s Code of Conduct; and

  • inspect the Council’s accounts and make their views known to the external Auditor.

Citizens are entitled to inspect and/or purchase the agendas, reports and minutes and to attend the meetings (or parts of meetings) held in public. The Council welcomes participation by local citizens in its work. For further information on rights of access to documents and meetings, please contact the Democratic Services Section.