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How the council operates

The Council comprises 42 councillors elected every four years. An up-to-date list of Councillors can be viewed on the Council's website here.  The last whole Council election was held in May 2023.

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 is also responsible for appointing the Leader of the Council who then appoints an Executive (together formally entitled "the Cabinet") and for appointing Committees, some of which are responsible for overseeing and reviewing the decisions of the Cabinet, (Scrutiny Committees) while others discharge regulatory responsibilities or other functions which by law may not be discharged by the Cabinet, for example planning and licensing.

Councillors have to agree to follow a Code of Conduct to ensure high standards in the way they undertake their duties.

You can see the structure of the Council in Part 1 of the Constitution.

The Cabinet

The Cabinet is currently made up of the Leader of the Council, plus 5 Cabinet members appointed by the Leader of the Council, one of whom is designated as Deputy Leader of the Council to carry out all of the Council’s functions which are not the responsibility of any other part of the Council, whether by law or under this Constitution. Many decisions will be made by the Leader, Cabinet or individual cabinet members rather than the full Council.

The Cabinet has a key role in proposing the budget and policy framework to the Council. The Cabinet and its members will lead the strategic direction and the drive for best value; lead the preparation of the Council’s policies and budget; take in year decisions on resources and priorities and be the focus for forming partnerships with other local public, private and voluntary and community sector organisations to address local needs.

The Chairman

The Chairman of the Council for the municipal year 2023-24 is Councillor Dan Kinsey BEM and the Vice-Chairman is Councillor Philip Davis.

The Chairman of the Council is the civic head of the Council and will represent the Council at such civic and ceremonial functions as the Council and they determine appropriate in addition to other roles including; to preside over meetings of the Council ensuring compliance with the Rules of Procedure in the Constitution; to promote public involvement in the Council’s activities and to maintain the dignity of the office and at no time to bring discredit to it.

 

 

How to invite the chairman to an event

You should send your invitation in writing to the Chairman’s secretary.

It is important that you give as much notice as possible when inviting the Chairman to attend an event and as a minimum we require 4 weeks’ notice.

Please ensure your invitation includes the following information.

  • the event
  • date, time of arrival and departure
  • venue address and post code
  • details of any specific duties you would like the Chairman to undertake
  • parking

Senior management

The Chief Executive leads the Corporate Leadership Team and is responsible to the Council for the way in which the discharge of the Council functions is co-ordinated, the appointment of employees required for the discharge of functions, and the organisation and training of them. 

The Corporate Leadership Team is made up of the Corporate Director Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Director of Place and Communities, Corporate Director of Governance and Director of Finance.  You can see the Council’s Extended Leadership Team’s organisation structure here.   The Council is required by the Localism Act 2011 to publish information about pay.  This information contained within our annual pay policy statement.

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