Meaning
The Council means every member
of Winchester City Council meeting together formally. By law, there
are some things that only the Council has the power to do. Other
matters are allocated by this Constitution.
Policy Framework and Budget
The policy framework includes
the following plans and strategies:
a) The Council
Strategy;
b) Plans and strategies which
together comprise the Winchester City Council Local Plan
;
c) A plan or strategy for the
control of the Authority’s borrowing, investments or capital
expenditure or for determining the Authority’s minimum
revenue provision;
d) The Licensing Authority
Policy Statement;
e) Any plan or strategy
(whether statutory or not) which has been identified by resolution
of Council as a matter for Full Council decision, or where Cabinet
has referred a plan or strategy for Full Council
decision;
f) Variations to any of the
above mentioned plans.
Budget
The Council will be responsible
for the adoption of its annual budget. Once the annual budget is in
place it will be the responsibility of the Cabinet to implement it.
The budget includes the allocation of financial resources to
different services and projects, proposed contingency funds, the
Council tax base, setting the Council tax, decisions relating to
the control of the Council’s borrowing requirement, the
control of its capital expenditure and the setting of virement limits.
Housing Land
Transfer Housing Land Transfer
means the approval or adoption of applications (whether in draft
form or not) to the Secretary of State for approval of a programme
of 500 or more properties to a person under the Leasehold Reform,
Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, or to dispose of land used
for residential purposes where approval is required under Section
32 or 43 of the Housing Act 1985.
Functions of the Full Council
Only the Council will exercise
the following functions:
a) Adopting and changing those
parts of the Constitution outlined in Article 15 as requiring Full
Council approval;
b) Approving or adopting the
policy framework, the annual budget and any application to the
Secretary of State in respect of any Housing Land
Transfer;
c) Matters which the Financial
Procedure Rules in Part 4 of this Constitution require Council
approval;
d) Subject to the urgency
procedure contained in the Access to Information Procedure Rules in
Part 4 of this Constitution, making decisions about any matter in
the discharge of an executive function which is covered by the
policy framework or the budget framework where the decision-maker
is minded to make it in a manner which will be contrary to the
policy framework or contrary to/not wholly in accordance with the
budget framework;
e) Electing the Leader,
removing the Leader by resolution and electing a replacement in
accordance with this Constitution;
f) Determining the political
balance of the Council and the allocation of seats in accordance
with it, or by unanimous vote in some other way as the Council sees
fit. In accordance with the Local Government and Housing Act 1989
Section 15 and any subsequent amendment.(Which define the term
‘political balance.’)
g) Deciding which Committees of
the Council to establish for the municipal year and the size and
terms of reference for those Committees.
h) Receiving or arranging the
delegation of nominations of members to serve on each Committee of
the Council and any outside body to which a new appointment or
reappointment is required unless the appointment is an executive
function or it has been delegated by the Council; e) Adopting a
Members Allowances Scheme under Article 2;
i) Changing the name of the area,
confirming the title of Honorary Alderman or Freedom of the
City;
j) Approving the appointment or
dismissal of the Head of Paid Service;
k) Making, amending, revoking,
re-enacting or adopting byelaws, and promoting or opposing the
making of local legislation or personal Bills;
l) Making a request under
Section 57 (requests for single member electoral areas) of the
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 for
single-member electoral areas;
m) Passing a resolution to
change a scheme for elections under Section 32(1), 37(1) or 39(1)
(resolutions for Schemes for Elections) of the Local Government and
Public Involvement in Health Act 2007;
n) The functions under the
Local Government Act 2000 of:
i) Deciding
whether to make proposals for a change in governance arrangements
of the kind set out in sections 9KA and 9KB of the 2000
Act;
ii)
Deciding whether a change of the kind set out in Section 9KA of the
2000 Act should be subject to approval in referendum under Section
9M of the Act;
iii)
Passing a resolution to make a change in governance arrangements
under Section 9KC of that Act;
o) The function of making an
Order giving effect to recommendations made in a Community
Governance Review under Section 86 (reorganisation of community
governance) of the Local Government and Public Involvement in
Health Act 2007;
p) The duty to make a change in
governance arrangements under paragraph 3 or 8 of Schedule 4 to the
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act
2007;
q) Adopting the local
authority’s code of conduct and any local protocols on Member
conduct; s) The powers to establish, confer functions on, and
request the dissolution of, a joint Committee to be, for the
purposes of Part 2 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act
2004, a local planning authority, under Sections 29, 30 and 31 of
that Act.
r) All local choice functions
set out in Part 3 of this Constitution which the Council decides
should be undertaken by itself rather than the Cabinet;
s) All other matters which, by
law and/or by this Constitution are reserved to Council.
The Council may
also:
a) Represent the views of the
community on matters of significance; and
b) Take decisions on matters
which are not the responsibility of Cabinet
Council Meetings
There are three types of
Council meeting: a) The annual meeting; b) Ordinary meetings; c)
Extraordinary meetings
and they will be conducted in
accordance with the Council Procedure Rules in Part 4 of this
Constitution.
Responsibility for Functions
The Council will maintain the
tables in Part 3 of this Constitution setting out the
responsibilities for the Council’s functions which are not
the responsibility of the Cabinet.
Meeting Quorum = 15