Constitution

See ‘Combined Development Control Committee Terms of Reference’ below for details of the trial planning committee arrangements from 1 January 2010 to 28 April 2010.

North Norfolk 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 the law, while others are a matter for the Council to choose.

The purpose of the Constitution is to:

• enable the Council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with citizens, businesses and other organisations;
• support the active involvement of citizens in the process of local authority decision-making;
• help Councillors represent their constituents more effectively;
• enable decisions to be taken efficiently and effectively;
• create a powerful and effective means of holding decision-makers to public account;
• ensure that no one will review or scrutinise a decision in which they were directly involved;
• ensure that those responsible for decision making are clearly identifiable to local people and that they explain the reasons for decisions; and
• provide a means of improving the delivery of services to the community.
  

The Council's Constitution is in a number of different parts about the way that the Council makes decisions either by Councillors ("Members") or Officers and the rules which apply to them. It is the Council's internal rulebook and governs the way in which the Council makes decisions.

We'd like to hear from you if you would like to suggest changes to the guide, or if you find parts of it unclear or too complicated or if you'd prefer to see more information or receive information in a different format such as large print.

Please contact the Legal & Democratic Services Manager & Monitoring Officer at the Council Offices on 01263 516045.