Constitution
What is the Parish Council's Constitution?
Unlike some larger local authorities, Southwater Parish Council does not operate under a single document called a "Constitution". Instead, the Council's constitutional and governance arrangements are set out across a number of adopted documents. Together, these explain how the Council conducts its business, how decisions are made, who has authority to make decisions, how public money is managed and the standards expected of Councillors.
The principal documents are:
Standing Orders
The Council's main procedural rules. They govern matters such as Council and committee meetings, motions, voting, public participation and the conduct of Council business.
Financial Regulations
The rules governing the Council's financial management and controls, including budgeting, payments, procurement, banking, assets and financial responsibilities. The Financial Regulations form part of the Council's governing documents and are read alongside the Standing Orders.
Councillor Code of Conduct
Sets out the standards of conduct expected of elected and co-opted Councillors when acting in their official capacity.
Scheme of Delegation
Explains which matters are reserved to the Full Council and which functions or decisions may be exercised by committees, sub-committees or Council officers under delegated authority.
Committee Remits / Terms of Reference
Set out the membership, responsibilities and delegated functions of the Council's committees.
These documents should be read together. Other adopted Council policies and procedures supplement this governance framework. All policies can be found here.
Standing Orders are an important part of the constitution, but they are not the whole of SPC's governance framework. SPC's Financial Regulations expressly state that they are one of the Council's "governing documents" and are to be observed alongside the Standing Orders. The Scheme of Delegation then sets out the authority delegated to officers, committees and sub-committees, and requires delegated actions to comply with the Standing Orders and Financial Regulations.
Transparency
Southwater Parish Council publishes its constitutional documents as part of its commitment to open and transparent governance.
The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires authorities within its scope to publish their Constitution on their website. The Code applies to parish councils where gross annual income or expenditure, whichever is higher, exceeds £200,000.