The Constitution of Waltham Forest Council was scheduled to consider a comprehensive review of the council's governing documents. The agenda indicated a detailed examination of various procedural rules, terms of reference for committees, and codes of conduct.

The Council's Constitution

The meeting was scheduled to review the entirety of the council's constitution, as outlined in the document Agenda frontsheet 02nd-Mar-2026 Constitution.pdf. This overarching document governs how the council operates. The agenda indicated that the following parts were to be considered:

• Part 01 - Summary and Explanation Part 01 - Summary and Explanation.pdf
• Part 02 - Articles of the Constitution Part 02 - Articles of the Constitution.pdf
• Part 03 - Responsibility for Functions Part 03 - 01 - Responsibility for Functions.pdf and General Scheme of Delegation Part 03 - 02 - General Scheme of Delegation.pdf
• Part 04 - Procedure Rules, including Council Procedure Rules Part 04a - Council Procedure Rules.pdf, Committee Procedure Rules Part 04b - Committee Procedure Rules.pdf, Cabinet (Executive) Procedure Rules Part 05 - Cabinet Executive Procedure Rules.pdf, and Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules Part 06 - Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.pdf.
• Part 07 - Terms of Reference for various committees, including the Council Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 01 - Council.pdf, Cabinet (Executive) Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 02 - Cabinet Executive.pdf, Shareholder Committee Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 02a - Shareholder Committee.pdf, Audit and Governance Committee Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 03 - Audit Governance Committee.pdf, Corporate Parenting Board Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 04 - Corporate Parenting Board.pdf, Health and Wellbeing Board (as updated in HWB ToR update 2023.pdf), Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Committee Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 06a - Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Committee.pdf and its Delegation Scheme Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 06b - Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Committee Scheme of Delegation.pdf, Licensing General Committee Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 07 - Licensing General Committee.pdf, Scrutiny Committees Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 08 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf, Pension Committee Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 09 - Pension Committee.pdf, Planning Committee Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 10 - Planning Committee.pdf, Staffing Committee Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 11 - Staffing Committee.pdf, and the Public Transport Consultative Group Part 07 - Terms of Reference - 12 - Transport Liaison Consultative Group.pdf.
• Part 08 - Financial, Contract, Employment, Urgency, and Property Procedure Rules, including Financial Procedure Rules Part 08 - 01 - Financial Procedure Rules.pdf, Contract Procedure Rules Part 08 - 02 - CPR.pdf, Employment Procedure Rules Part 08 - 03 - Employment Procedure Rules.pdf, Urgency Procedure Rules Part 08 - 04 - Urgency Procedure Rules.pdf, and Property Procedure Rules Part 08 - 05 - Property Procedure Rules.pdf.
• Part 08 - Other Procedure Rules, including the Co-Option Scheme Co-Option Scheme.pdf, Parent Governor Procedure Rules Part 08 - 06b - Parent Governor Procedure Rules.pdf, and Access to Information Procedure Rules Part 08 - 07 - Access to Information Procedure Rules.pdf.
• Part 09 - Codes of Conduct and Protocols, including the Councillors' Code of Conduct Part 09 - 01 - Councillors Code of Conduct.pdf and Councillor/Officer Protocol Part 09 - 02 - Member-Officer Protocol.pdf.
• Part 10 - Councillors' Allowances Scheme 2025-26 Part 10 - 01 - Councillors Allowances Scheme 2026-27.pdf.
• Part 11 - Management Structure Part 11 - Management Structure March 26.pdf.
• Part 12 - Member Roles, which includes information on the Core Role of Councillors CORE ROLE OF COUNCILLORS.pdf, the Role of the Mayor ROLE OF MAYOR.pdf, the Role of the Leader ROLE OF LEADER.pdf, the Role of the Deputy Leader ROLE OF DEPUTY LEADER.pdf, the Role of Cabinet Member ROLE OF CABINET MEMBER.pdf, and the Role of Junior Cabinet Member ROLE OF JUNIOR CABINET MEMBER.pdf.
• Part 13 - Protocol for Freedom of the Borough Part 13 - Protocol for Freedom of the Borough.pdf.
• Part 14 - Protocol for Honorary Alderperson PART 14 - Protocol for Honorary Alderperson.pdf.
• Part 15 - Planning Code of Practice Planning Code of Practice 2017.pdf.

The agenda indicated that the council's constitution is a fundamental document that sets out the framework for the council's decision-making processes and governance. It is designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the council's operations. The review of these various parts would have aimed to ensure that the constitution accurately reflects current practices and legal requirements.