The Council is composed of 42 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 appropriate 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 Council elects the Leader of the Council (who
appoints the other members of the decision-making Executive); the
Overview and Scrutiny Commission (responsible for holding the
Executive publicly accountable, and for developing policies) and
the four regulatory committees (which make decisions, non-executive
functions).