What is the Constitution?

The Constitution sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures that are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people. Some of these processes are required by law, while others are a matter for the Council to decide.

The Constitution is divided into 15 Articles, which set out the basic rules governing the Council business. More detailed procedures and Codes of Practices are provided in separate rules and protocols at the end of the Constitution.

New Code of Conduct for Members

At the Full Council Meeting on July 19, 2007, the Council adopted a new Code of Conduct for Members with effect from the October 1, 2007. To view the new Code please see Part 4, Section 3 of the Constitution.

• Part 1 (pdf 115 kb) - Introduction and Articles

• Part 2 (pdf 156 kb)   - Responsibility for Council Functions

• Schedule to Part 2 - Scheme of Delegations to Officers

• Part 3 (pdf 257 kb) - Standing Orders

• Part 4 (pdf 163 kb) - Rules and Codes of Conduct

• Part 5 (pdf 46 kb) - Members' Allowances Scheme

• Part 6 (pdf 238 kb) - Management Structure

• Appendix A (pdf 25 kb) - The Council's Vision

• Appendix B (pdf 15 kb) - The Budget Process

• Appendix C (pdf 24 kb) - The Members of the Council

The documents above are presented in Portable Document Format (.pdf). You will need the appropriate version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view, navigate and print .pdf files. Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free of charge and can be downloaded from the Adobe Website.

Please note that some of the attached files are large and therefore may take sometime to download.