Roles and responsibilities of the council

We have responsibility for:

• approving the annual budget

• setting the Council Tax

• agreeing the strategies that make up the council's policy framework

Cabinet

The cabinet carries out all of the functions that are not the responsibility of the council or its committees whether by law or under the constitution. The cabinet has six members with each member having their own area of responsibility (portfolio).

Forward plan

The forward plan lists forthcoming decisions to be made by cabinet that are classed as ‘key decisions’. This means they are significant in terms of expenditure or savings or will impact two or more electoral wards.

Committees

Overview and scrutiny committees have responsibility for scrutinising and reviewing policy, make recommendations to council or cabinet and have the power to 'call in' a decision of the cabinet and to ask for it to be reviewed prior to being implemented.

Regulatory committees are responsible for development control, this includes making decisions about planning applications, licensing and public protection.

The role of the audit and standards committee includes promoting high standards of conduct among councillors and overseeing the audit process.

Full details of roles and responsibilities are in our constitution.