Who makes decisions
The decisions we take are made:
- by councillors in meetings
- by officers
Decision making by councillors in meetings
For every meeting we will:
- publish an agenda which tells you when and where the meeting will be held and what decisions will be considered
- publish a report from a council officer that make recommendations to the councillors, which may or may not be agreed
- publish the minutes of the meeting, which contain all the decisions made
- publish an mp3 recording of the meeting, within 3 working days of the meeting being held
We appoint a councillor as the Chair of the committee, who will run the meeting in line with the rules set out in our constitution.
Officers are not allowed to vote, except those appointed to the health and wellbeing board, and usually come to meetings to present their reports or to give advice to councillors.
You can get involved in our meetings through:
- asking questions at council meetings
- asking questions at overview and scrutiny committee meetings
- petitions
- challenging decisions
How to see copies of agenda, reports and minutes
Agenda, reports and minutes for all our meetings are published online.
You can also look at copies of the agenda, at least 5 days before each meeting, in the reception area at the entrance to the Civic Offices, New Road, Grays.
Decisions made by officers
Our officers also take decisions, so that they can deal with the day-to-day running of services without the need to constantly write reports and have them looked at by committees.
You can find details of the types of decisions that can be taken in this way in the scheme of delegation in chapter 6 of our constitution.