Constitution

This is a summary of the constitution. The official copy is provided as links within each section. 

Elmbridge Borough Council is a non-metropolitan borough authority with statutory responsibility for delivering services within the borough of Elmbridge. 

Councillors

Elmbridge Borough Council is made up of 48 councillors, also known as ‘members’. Councillors are elected by the residents of their ward. They have a duty to the whole community, and a special duty to their constituents. 

Only registered voters of the borough or people living or working here are eligible to stand to be elected as a councillor. 

Elections

Elections are usually held on the first Thursday in May. Three out of four years there is an election for a third of the councillors, where one councillor per ward is elected. 

Councillors have the following roles and functions: 

• collectively deciding the council's Budget and Policy Framework and carrying out a number of other strategic functions
• initiating, developing and scrutinising policy
• representing their communities and bringing their views into the council's decision-making process - becoming the advocate of and for their communities
• contributing to the good governance of the area and encouraging community participation
• dealing with individual casework and acting as an advocate for constituents in resolving particular concerns or grievances
• balancing different interests identified within the ward and representing the ward and the council as a whole
• maintaining the confidentiality of confidential and exempt information and assisting to ensure transparency of information that is publicly available
• being involved in decision-making
• being available to represent the council on other bodies
• promoting and maintaining the highest standards of conduct and ethics

How the council makes decisions

All councillors meet together as the Full Council. See the meetings calendar for dates of meetings. 

Once a year the Annual Council Meeting (ACM) is held and councillors appoint a Mayor and Deputy Mayor who preside over the Full Council meeting, perform the council's civic role and represent the council in the community. 

The Full Council is responsible for setting the Budget and Policy Framework, which sets out the council’s key policies and agreed budget for each year. 

The Full Council also appoints committees to deal with regulatory functions such as Planning and Licensing. 

The council has adopted an ‘executive’ form of governance, which means that the Full Council appoints a Leader of the Council every 4 years, usually at the Annual Full Council meeting. 

The Leader then appoints between 2 and 9 other councillors who, together with the Leader, form the Cabinet and are responsible for decisions such as policy matters, housing, land and property and economic regeneration.

Decision making and the Cabinet

The Cabinet is responsible for taking executive decisions and implementing the council’s Budget and Policy Framework. 

Executive decisions can also be made by the Leader, a committee of Cabinet, individual Cabinet members or by officers under the Officer Scheme of Delegation.

Cabinet members, sometimes called portfolio holders are responsible for a particular area of the council's activities, called portfolios. 

Overview and Scrutiny

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee supports and challenges the work of the Cabinet and the Council as a whole. It may be supported by Task Groups. Cabinet members cannot sit on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or any of its Task Groups. 

The Committee can hold inquiries into matters of local concern. The public can take part, and the Committee can invite external bodies to provide evidence or appear before it. This sometimes leads to reports and recommendations on policies, budgets and service delivery. 

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee also monitors the decisions of Cabinet and key decisions taken by officers that have been taken but not yet implemented.

The Committee may also be consulted by the Cabinet or the Council on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy.

The council’s staff

Councillors are supported by the council's staff, who are also called officers. 

Officers provide advice, implement decisions and manage the day-to-day delivery of the council's services. The most senior officer is the Chief Executive. Other senior managers lead different parts of the council's services. 

The council’s statutory officers have specific duties to ensure that the council operates within the law and uses resources wisely: 

• Head of Paid Service: responsible for the Council’s officers - in Elmbridge this is the Chief Executive
• Chief Finance Officer: responsible for the proper administration of the council’s financial affairs
• Monitoring Officer: responsible for reporting upon illegality and maladministration. 

For more information see council structure and officers. 

Mayor of the council

The Mayor is the first citizen of the borough of Elmbridge. The civic and ceremonial role of the Mayor is non-political. The Mayor serves for a one-year term of office. 

The Mayor: 

• promotes public involvement in the council’s activities
• promotes the council as a whole, acting as a focal point for the community
• presides over Full Council meetings
• ensures that the Full Council meeting is a forum for the debate of matters of concern to the local community and the place where councillors who are not on the Cabinet are able to hold the Cabinet and committee chairs to account
• keeps order at Full Council meetings and ensure that councillor behaviour is of the highest standard and does not bring the Council into disrepute
• has a second or casting vote in the event of a tied vote
• is subject to the advice and guidance of the Head of Paid Service, Chief Finance Officer or Monitoring Officer during council meetings

The Deputy Mayor takes on the responsibilities of the Mayor if the Mayor is absent.

Rights of members of the public

Members of the public have the right to: 

• vote at local elections if they are registered on the electoral roll
• stand for election as a councillor if they live or work in the council’s area
• present petitions in line with the council’s rules
• contact their local councillors about any matters of concern to them about the functions of the council
• respond to any consultations which the council issues

Members of the public can access information by:

• attending meetings of the Council, Cabinet or Committees except for private parts of the meeting where confidential or exempt information is likely to be disclosed
• viewing upcoming Key Decisions in Cabinet forward plan of decisions
• viewing reports and background papers, and any records of decisions made by the Council, Cabinet and Committees
• inspecting the council’s accounts and making their views known to the External Auditor 

Members of the public can take part in meetings of the council in the following ways: 

• at planning committee in accordance with the rule on Public Speaking
• making representations to Licensing Committee as applicant or objectors about individual applications
• reporting on the proceedings at open meetings of the Council, Cabinet and Committees by filming, photography, audio-recording or other means, and providing written commentaries during a meeting and oral commentaries outside of the meeting

Anyone can make a complaint to: 

• the council under the council’s complaints procedures
• the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after first having used the council’s own complaint procedures and giving the council the chance to respond to the complaint
• the Monitoring Officer about an alleged breach of the Councillor Code of Conduct 

More information

This is a summary of section 1 of the constitution. To learn more read the full document: