Richmondshire District Council
Constitution
Introduction
The Richmondshire District Council has agreed a 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 law, while others are a matter for the Council to choose.
The Constitution is divided into 15 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 is in the Constitution?
Article 1 of the Constitution commits the Council to operating in
accordance with its constitution. Articles 2-14 explain the rights
of citizens and how the key parts of the Council operate. These
are:
- Members of the Council (Article 2).
- Citizens and the Council (Article 3).
- The Council meeting (Article 4).
- Chairing the Council (Article 5).
- Overview and scrutiny of decisions (Article 6).
- Policy and other committees (Article 7).
- The Standards Committee (Article 8).
- Area Committees and Parish Forums (Article 9).
- Joint arrangements (Article 10).
- Officers (Article 11).
- Decision making (Article 12).
- Finance, contracts and legal matters (Article 13).
- Review and revision of the Constitution (Article 14).
- Suspension, interpretation and publication of the Constitution (Article 15).
How the Council Operates
The Council is composed of 34 Councillors elected every 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.
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; determine the
Council's main plans; provide a forum for debate on issues of
general concern to the area; hear reports back from parish forum
meetings and review the Council's overall performance.
How Decisions are Made
Most day-to-day decisions are made by policy committees. The
Council has three policy committees which deal with all of its
functional responsibilities. Some Committees also carry out a
number of regulatory functions, including dealing with planning
applications.
Meetings of the Council's policy committees are publicised well in
advance and are open to the public except where exempt or
confidential matters are being discussed.
Overview and Scrutiny
There are two Overview and Scrutiny committees which support
the work of the policy committees 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 can lead to
reports and recommendations which advise the policy committees and
the Council as a whole on its policies, budget and service
delivery. Overview and Scrutiny committees also monitor the
decisions of the policy committees. They can 'call-in' a decision
which has been made by a policy committee but not yet implemented.
This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate.
They may recommend that the policy committee or full council
reconsider the decision. They may also be consulted by policy
committees on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy.
Both Overview and Scrutiny committees are involved in assisting the
council to comply with its statutory duty to deliver 'best value'
in its services and in policy review and development.
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. Some of
these are legal rights, whilst others depend on the Council's own
processes. The local Citizens' Advice Bureau can advise on
individuals' legal rights.
Where members of the public use specific council services, for
example as a council tenant, they may have additional rights. These
are not covered in this Constitution.
Citizens have the right to:
- vote at local elections if they are registered;
- contact their local councillor about any matters of concern to them;
- obtain a copy of the Constitution;
- attend meetings of the Council and its committees except where, for example, personal or confidential matters are being discussed;
- petition to request a referendum on a mayoral form of executive;
- participate in the Council's question time, parish forums and contribute to investigations by the overview and scrutiny committees;
- complain to the Council via its published complaints procedure;
- complain to the Ombudsman if they think the Council has not followed its procedures properly. However, they should normally only do this after using the Council's own complaints process;
- complain to the Standards Board for England if they have evidence which they think shows that a councillor has not followed the Council's Code of Conduct; and
- inspect the Council's accounts and make their views known to the external auditor.
The Council welcomes participation by its citizens in its work. For
further information on your rights as a citizen, please contact the
Head of Democratic Services on 01748 829100, extension 217.
A statement of the rights of citizens to inspect agendas and
reports and attend meetings is available at the Council's
offices.
Please
click here to view the Constitution
Print page
Last updated:
05 June 2008
