The day-to-day work of the council is carried out by employees working within our departments.
Our Cabinet is responsible for the overall business of the council and is subject to scrutiny in all it does.
Find out more about the policies and plans we use including our constitution and council plan.
How we make decisions
We are required to publish a list of forthcoming key decisions stating when we will make decisions on major issues.
We also publish meeting papers before a meeting is due to take place and publish the minutes after it has taken place. Many of our meetings are open to the public to view. Find out about our meetings and decisions.
There are also a number of committees who take decisions on separate aspects of business and these may advise the cabinet or full council where appropriate.
County councillors are usually members of a political party but they can also be independent.
The party with the most councillors becomes the ruling party of the council and forms the Cabinet.
Constitution
Our constitution sets out how we operate, how decisions are made and the procedures we follow to ensure the council is efficient, transparent and accountable to local people.
Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter for us to choose.
The constitution is divided into 2 parts: articles and appendices.
The articles set out the overarching functions and decision-making framework of the council, while the appendices contain the details as to how the functions listed in the articles will be carried out.