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Part 1 - Summary and Explanation

The Council's Constitution

The Salisbury District Council has agreed a new constitution which sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people. Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter for the Council to choose. The Constitution is divided into 16 articles which set out the basic rules governing the Council's business. More detailed procedures and codes of practice are provided in separate rules and protocols at the end of the document.

What's in the Constitution?

Article 1 of the Constitution commits the Council to Producing clear leadership to the community in partnership with business, citizens and other organisations and the active involvement of citizens in the process of local authority decision making Articles 2 - 16 explain the rights of citizens and how the key parts of the Council operate.

How the Council operates

The Council is currently composed of 55 councillors elected every four years, and who 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. Councillors have to agree to follow a code of conduct to ensure high standards in the way they undertake their duties. The Standards Committee trains and advises them on the code of conduct.

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 Full Council appoints the Leader and Cabinet as a whole and hold the Cabinet to account through questioning the Cabinet's decisions at Council meetings and considering its recommendations. Citizens have rights to attend the Council meetings, to speak and to participate in certain debates. These rights are set out in detail in Article 3.

How decisions are made

Cabinet arrangements

The Cabinet is the part of the council which is responsible for most day-to-day decisions. The Cabinet is made up of a leader and cabinet, 10 councillors in total appointed by the Full Council. When major decisions are to be discussed or made, these are published in the Cabinets' forward plan in so far as they can be anticipated. If these major decisions are to be discussed with council officers at a meeting of the Cabinet, this will generally be open for the public to attend except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed. The Cabinet has to make decisions which are in line with the Council's overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Council as a whole to decide.

Overview and Scrutiny

There are 4 overview and scrutiny panels. These support the work of the Cabinet and the Council as a whole.

They allow citizens to have a greater say in Council matters by holding public inquiries into matters of local concern. These lead to reports and recommendations which advise the Cabinet and the Council as a whole on its policies, budget and service delivery.

Overview and scrutiny panels also monitor the decisions of the Cabinet. They can 'call-in' a decision which has been made by the Cabinet but not yet implemented. This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate. They may recommend that the Cabinet reconsider the decision.

They may also be consulted by the Cabinet or the Council on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy. Overview and Scrutiny work is overseen by a co-ordinating committee of twelve elected members, politically balanced

Area Committees

In order to give local citizens a greater say in council affairs, 4 area committees have been created. These cover the Northern, Western, Southern and City Areas (which is currently sub-divided into two) and are responsible for amongst other matters regulatory functions (Development control) and development of the community strategy. The City Area has specific powers as it acts in the capacity of a parish council eg levies its own precept.. All four involve councillors for each particular area (are Ward based) and meetings are held in public.

Where planning and other regulatory decisions impact on more than one of the four areas or are of district-wide significance they will be decided by a Planning/Regulatory Panel.

Standards Committee

Required to promote high standards of conduct by councillors and including in its membership an independent person and a parish representative.

The Council's Staff

The Council has people working for it (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. A code of practice governs the relationships between officers and members of the council.

Citizens' Rights

Citizens have a number of rights in their dealings with the Council. These are set out in more detail in Article 3 but are based upon the principle that the Council will be open and transparent giving people the right to be well informed and the right to participate in the formal processes of the Council as well as more informally through a wide range of consultation mechanisms.