This meeting was about the adoption of Wandsworth Council's constitution. The document included for discussion sets out how the council operates and the procedures it follows.

Purpose of the Constitution

The stated purpose of Wandsworth Council's constitution is to:

enable the Council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with citizens, businesses and other organisations

Rights of Citizens

The constitution says that citizens of Wandsworth have the right to vote at local elections if they are registered, to contact their local councillors, attend council meetings, and submit petitions on any matter relating to council business. They also have the right to make complaints about the council's services and the way they are delivered.

Decision Making

The constitution says that the council is made up of 60 councillors, each representing their ward. The councillors meet as the full council, which decides the council's budget and policies. The council elects a Leader for a four year term. The Leader appoints other councillors to the Executive, which makes most of the day-to-day decisions on how the council's policies are delivered. The council also has a number of regulatory and other committees to decide on matters relating to planning, licensing, and constitutional matters. These committees are monitored by five Overview and Scrutiny Committees, which can ‘call-in’ a decision made by the Executive, but not yet implemented.

Staff

The constitution says that the council has staff who provide advice and manage the day-to-day running of the council's services. Most of these staff are jointly employed by Wandsworth and Richmond councils. The Chief Executive, along with the other Executive Directors, have been delegated authority by the council to make a range of decisions.

This article summarises what was scheduled to be discussed in the reports pack for the meeting. It does not describe what was actually discussed or decided.