Political structure
Since May 2011 this council has been operating a 'Strong Leader' Cabinet system.
Councillors
The council is composed of 54 councillors who are elected by a simple majority and serve for 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.
- Find out more about councillors
The leader and cabinet
The leader and cabinet meet regularly to make decisions on services and to implement policies. The council as a whole meets to decide on what policies the council will follow and how much money it will spend.
- Find council meeting dates
- Find out more about the leader and cabinet
- The Forward Plan sets out key decisions to be taken by cabinet.
- Find council democracy information, meetings and agendas
Overview and scrutiny committees
There are two overview and scrutiny committees: Executive, and Corporate and Environmental
Both committees scrutinise cabinet decisions and assist in working up policy, conducting in-depth reviews of activity both internal and external to the council.
For more information regarding the committee's work programmes visit overview and scrutiny.
