Part 2 - Articles of the Constitution

1.01     Powers of the Council

The Council will exercise all its powers and duties in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

1.02     The Constitution

The Constitution, including any schedules, appendices and annexes referred to in the Constitution, is the Constitution of Gloucestershire County Council.

1.03     The purpose of the Constitution

The purpose of the Constitution is to:

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

1.03.2    Support the active involvement of citizens in the process of Local Authority decision-making;

1.03.3    Help County Councillors represent their constituents more effectively;

1.03.4    Enable decisions to be taken effectively and efficiently;

1.03.5    Create a powerful and effective means of holding decision makers to public account;

1.03.6    Ensure that, in a Scrutiny Committee, no one will review or scrutinise a decision in which they were directly involved;

1.03.7    Ensure that those responsible for decision making are clearly identifiable to local people and that they explain the reasons for decisions;

1.03.8    Provide a means of improving the delivery of services to the community.

1.04     Interpretation of the Constitution

Where the Constitution permits the Council to choose between different courses of action, the Council will always choose that option, which it thinks is closest to the purposes stated in Article 1.03.