What Full Council is and the decisions it can take.
Full Council is made up of all 70 councillors who represent 34 wards in the city.
Meetings of Full Council are held in public and chaired by the Lord Mayor.
The Full Council:
- sets the budget and policy framework including the level of council tax
- appoints committees, for example development control committees and other committees
- has other powers including the adoption of byelaws and appointment of Aldermen and Freedom of the City
Legal requirements
Legally, there are a number of functions which must be carried out by Full Council. These are set out in Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Committee System) (England) Regulations 2012.
- The approval or adoption of the following plans or strategies:
- Annual Library Plan
- Crime and disorder reduction strategy
- Development Plan documents
- Licensing Authority Policy Statement
- Local Transport Plan
- Plans and alterations that together comprise the Development Plan
- Sustainable Community Strategy
- Youth justice plan
- Approval or adoption of a plan or strategy for the control of the local authority's borrowing, investments, or capital expenditure, or for determining the authority's minimum revenue provision
- Approval (where required) of the submission of any plan or strategy (whether in draft or not) to the Secretary of State or any Minister of the Crown for approval
- Making, amending or revoking a Members' Allowances Scheme (to include basic, attendance and special responsibility allowances)
- Determination of any allowance to be paid to the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Council (allowances to the Lord Mayor or Deputy Lord Mayor)
- Determination of any basic, attendance or special responsibility allowances under an approved Members' Allowances Scheme
- Making a request to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England for single-member electoral areas
- Passing a resolution to change a scheme for elections (whole council, elections by halves or elections by thirds)
- Making an order giving effect to recommendations made in a community governance review
- To permit co-opted members of an overview and scrutiny committee to vote at an overview and scrutiny committee
There are also a number of other responsibilities that will be carried out by Full Council which are set out in Part 3 of the Council's Constitution:
- Approval of the annual budget and setting the Council Tax
- Approval of the Treasury Management Strategy
- Approval of the Council's non-statutory plan for the delivery of the Council's policies and strategies (known as the Corporate Plan)
- Approval of the Council's Constitution
- Approval of the Council's Annual Pay Policy Statement
- Establishment of and appointment to committees, including chairs of committees
- Appointment of the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council
- Appointment of the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor
- Appointment of the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer
- Adoption of the scheme of delegation to officers
- Any other business that is currently dealt with by Full Council will continue to be dealt with by Full Council