Constitution of the council

East Hampshire District Council has agreed a new constitution which sets out how the council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people.

Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter for the council to choose.

The purpose of the constitution is to:

  1. Enable the council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with citizens, businesses and other organisations;
  2. Support the active involvement of citizens in the process of local authority decision making;
  3. Help councillors to represent their constituents more effectively;
  4. Enable decisions to be taken efficiently and effectively;
  5. Create a powerful and effective means of holding decision-makers to public account;
  6. Ensure that no one will review or scrutinise a decision in which they were directly involved;
  7. Ensure that those responsible for decision making are clearly identifiable to local people and that they explain the reasons for decisions; and
  8. Provide a means of improving the delivery of services to the community.