We are run by  democratically elected councillors. Members of the council align themselves to political groups, which are not necessarily formally recognised UK political parties. The group with the majority of members forms the administration.  Its Executive members are the Cabinet led by the Leader. 

 

We have produced a guide to contacting your Councillor that displays all the Councillors by ward with their contact details.

 

For more information about the members, visit the members personal contact page, which includes their committee memberships and further contact details. 

 

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, at its annual meeting in May each year, appoints the Leader and Cabinet (the executive) for the ensuing year. The Leader selects the councillors for his/her Cabinet, nominates them to the Council for formal appointment and allocates their portfolios.

 

The Council also appoints committees for the ensuing year to deal with certain areas of responsibility which are not within the powers of the Cabinet such as planning applications and other regulatory matters and also overview and scrutiny commissions and a standards committee.