Anyone wishing to speak at Council should read
how to participate in Council meetings.
The Council is composed of 41 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.
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
cabinet); the Overview and Scrutiny Commission (responsible for
holding the cabinet publicly accountable, and for developing
policies) and the four regulatory committees (which make decisions,
non-executive functions).