Decisions can be made in the two ways, by councillors or officers.
Councillors
Councillors can make decisions as part of a meeting of the Full Council or meetings of a committee or sub-committee. There are committees which set policy and make decisions within their areas. For example, the Education, Children and Families Committee makes decisions on all school matters.
Read details of committees, their membership and the areas they can make decisions on.
Officers
Many operational decisions are made by officers. This allows routine issues to be sorted out quickly.
There are safeguards in place to ensure that we follow the democratic process. For example, decisions made by officers that are likely to be politically controversial or affect a particular ward must be made in consultation with councillors.
Download the scheme of delegation - PDF) for officers to read about the safeguards and the decisions officers can make.