Constitution

The purpose of the Constitution

The purpose of the Constitution is to describe clearly the way in which the Council conducts its business, so that anyone who has dealings with the Council on any matter can easily determine who is responsible for decisions that affect those matters. Section 37 of the Local Government Act 2000 requires all local authorities that operate executive arrangements to maintain an up to date constitution.

Bedfordshire County 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.

How the Council operates

The Council is currently composed of 52 Councillors elected every four years. Councillors are democratically accountable to residents of their electoral division. 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 high standards in the way they undertake their duties. The Council has appointed a Standards Committee which is responsible for ensuring that training and advice is provided on the code of conduct and any breaches of the code are dealt with.

All councillors meet together as the Council. Meetings of the Council are open to the public, unless special circumstances apply. Here councillors decide the Council’s overall policies and set the budget each year. The Council appoints the leader of the Council. The Leader appoints Cabinet members who form the Executive and allocates their portfolio of responsibilities. The Council also appoints committees.

The Council meeting is the forum for major debates and consideration of matters of interest to the whole community of Bedfordshire, as well as for holding to account the Executive (cabinet) members and committees. In addition to the annual and ordinary Council meetings, the Council has made provision for extraordinary meetings in its rules.

Download the full Bedfordshire County Council  Constitution| (PDF document opens in a new window).