SALFORD CITY COUNCIL COUNCIL CONSTITUTION September 2017 1 CONSTITUTION OF SALFORD CITY COUNCIL CONTENTS Part 1: Summary and Explanation 4 What’s in the Constitution? Part 2: Articles of the Constitution 9 Article 1 The Constitution 10 Article 2 Members of the Council 11 Article 3 The Council and its Community 16 Article 4 The Full Council 18 Article 5 Chairing Meetings of the Council 22 Article 6 Overview and Scrutiny Committees 23 Article 7 The Executive (the Cabinet) 28 Article 8 Regulatory Panels and other Committees 33 Article 9 The Standards Committee 34 Article 10 Area (Community) Committees 37 Article 11 Joint Arrangements 39 Article 12 Officers 41 Article 13 Decision Making 45 Article 14 Finance, Contracts and Legal Matters 48 Article 15 Review and Revision of the Constitution 49 Article 16 Suspension, Interpretation and Publication of the Constitution 50 Schedule 1 Description of Executive Arrangements 51 Part 3: Responsibility for Functions 52 Section A Responsibility for Local Choice Functions 55 Section B Responsibility for Executive Functions 60 Section C Responsibility for Non-Executive Functions 62 Section D Responsibility for Functions By Area Community Committees 101 Section E Overview and Scrutiny Committees 103 Section F Salford City Council’s Scheme of Delegation of the Council’s Non-Executive Functions to Chief Officers and List of Salford City Council’s Statutory and Proper Officers (Rules of Procedure) 108 Part 4: Rules of Procedure 141 Section A Council Procedures Rules (Standing Orders) 143 Section B Access to Information Procedure Rules 168 Section C Budget and Policy Framework Procedures Rules 188 2 Section D Scrutiny Procedure Rules 198 Section E Officer Employment Procedure Rules 215 Part 5: Financial Regulations 224 Section A Status of Financial Regulations 227 Section B Scope of Contract Procurement Rules 279 Part 6: Code of Conduct 301 Section A Code of Conduct for Members 301 Section B Planning Protocol for Members and Officers 318 Section C Code of Conduct for Employees 329 Section D Member/Officers Relations Protocol 339 Part 7: Members’ Allowances Scheme 345 Part 8: Senior Management Team 353 3 Part 1 Summary and Explanation 4 The Council's Constitution Salford City 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 law, while others are a matter for the council to choose. The Constitution is divided into 16 Articles which set out the basic rules governing the council's business. More detailed procedures and codes of practice are provided in separate rules and protocols at Parts 3 to 7 of the Constitution. What’s in the Constitution? Article 1 of the Constitution commits the council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with citizens, businesses and other organisations. Articles 2– 16 explain the rights of citizens and how the key parts of the council operate. These Articles are: Members of the council (Article 2) Citizens and the council (Article 3) The council meeting (Article 4) Chairing the council (Article 5) Overview and Scrutiny of decisions (Article 6) The Executive (Cabinet) (Article 7) Regulatory and other committees (Article 8) The Standards Committee (Article 9) Area (Community) Committees (Article 10) Joint arrangements (Article 11) Officers (Article 12) Decision Making (Article 13) Finance, contracts and legal matters (Article 14) Review and suspension of the Constitution (Article 15) Suspension, interpretation and publication of the Constitution (Article 16) How the council operates Salford City Council is composed of 60 councillors and a directly elected City Mayor (‘the elected City Mayor’). The elected City Mayor On the 3 May 2012 the council held its first Mayoral election for an elected City Mayor. Salford’s elected City Mayor has been elected for a term of office of four years. The elected City Mayor is democratically accountable to all residents of the city of Salford and has an overriding duty to the whole community, including those who did not vote for him. 5 Councillors Salford is divided into 20 electoral wards, each represented by three city councillors. One third of Salford’s councillors are elected three years out of four. Councillors are democratically accountable to residents of their electoral ward. The overriding duty of councillors is to the whole community of the city, but they have a special duty to their ward constituents, including those who did not vote for them. Councillors and the elected City Mayor have to agree to follow Salford City Council’s Code of Member Conduct to ensure high standards in the way they undertake their duties. The Standards Committee trains and advises them on the Code of Conduct. Salford City Council’s Code of Member Conduct is set out at Section A of Part 6 of this Constitution. All councillors meet together as the council. Meetings of the council are normally open to the public. Here councillors decide the council’s overall policies and priorities and set the budget each year. How decisions are made? The executive (which in Salford is called the ‘Cabinet’) is made up of the elected City Mayor (who is elected by all residents) and between two and nine other councillors (one of whom acts as Deputy City Mayor) whom the elected City Mayor appoints. In relation to most day-to-day decisions the elected City Mayor delegates decision- making power to individual members of the Cabinet, or to the Chief Executive and other Chief Officers. When ‘key’ decisions (as defined at Article 13.3) are to be discussed or made, these are published in the council’s forward plan in so far as they can be anticipated. If these key decisions are to be discussed with council officers at a meeting, this will generally be open to the public to attend except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed. The elected City Mayor, members of the Cabinet and Chief Officers have to make decisions which are in line with the council’s overall policies and budget. If the elected City Mayor, members of the Cabinet or Chief Officers wish to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the council as a whole to decide (except in the case of urgency). Overview and Scrutiny There are a number of Overview and Scrutiny Committees and Sub-Committees (which in Salford are called the ‘Overview and Scrutiny Board’ and ‘Scrutiny Panels’) who support the work of the elected City Mayor, members of the Cabinet and the council as a whole. They allow citizens to have a greater say in council matters by holding public enquiries into matters of local interest or concern. These lead to reports and recommendations which advise the elected City Mayor, members of the Cabinet and the council as a whole on polices, budget and service delivery. Salford City Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board and Scrutiny Panels also monitor the decisions of the elected City Mayor, members of the Cabinet, and Chief Officers. They can ‘call-in’ a decision which has been made by the elected City Mayor, 6 members of the Cabinet, or Chief Officers but not yet implemented. This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate. They may recommend that the elected City Mayor, members of the Cabinet or Chief Officers reconsider the decision. They may also be consulted by the elected City Mayor, members of the Cabinet, Chief Officers, or the council on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy. Community Committees In order to give local citizens a greater say in council affairs, eight Area Committees (which in Salford are called ‘Community Committees’) have been created. All of the councillors who have been elected in the wards covered by each of Salford’s Community Committees are appointed as voting Members of their Community Committee. In addition each of Salford’s Community Committees has appointed representatives of community groups as non-voting co-opted members who are entitled to make recommendations to the elected members of their Community Committee. All meetings are held in public. Each of the council’s Community Committees has a devolved budget and is responsible for making decisions in relation to this devolved budget. The council’s staff The council has people working for it (called officers) to give advice, implement decisions and manage the day-to-day delivery of its services. Some officers have a specific duty to ensure the council acts within the law and uses its resources wisely. Codes of Practice govern the relationship between officers and members of the council and the elected City Mayor. Citizens’ rights Citizens have a number of rights in their dealings with the council. These are set out in more detail in Article 3. Some of these are legal rights whilst others depend on the council's own processes. Local advice organisations can advise on an individual's legal rights. Where members of the public use specific council services, for example as a parent of a school pupil, or as a council tenant, they have additional rights. These are not covered in this Constitution. Citizens have the right to: vote at local elections if they are registered contact a local councillor and the elected City Mayor about any matter of concern to them obtain a copy of the Constitution attend meetings of the council and its Committees except where, for example, personal or confidential