Transparency
We are a publicly funded organisation and we are committed to provide as much information as possible about the way we work and the way your money is spent. On this page you will find a summary of the ways we do this.
Freedom of Information (FoI) requests
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 anyone can ask us questions about the information we hold. You do not need to give a reason for asking, but if you do it will help us identify all the relevant information and pass it on to you. For more information about making a request please visit our Freedom of Information page.
Environmental information
All recorded environmental information held by, or on behalf of, us is within the scope of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (although disclosure of personal data is subject to the Data Protection Act). The legislation applies regardless of the age, format, origin or classification of information. It covers files, letters, etc and it extends to closed files and archived material as well as information in current use. There are, however, exceptions where it may not be possible to disclose the requested information. For further details please see our Environmental Information Regulations page.
Members' Allowances
Elected Members are entitled to an allowance which recognises their time commitment to the job. This commitment includes attending meetings of committees and Council and meetings with officers. For details of the scheme of Members' Allowances please read our Members' Allowances Scheme. The latest schedule of payments made in respect of Members' Allowances can be found via the Related Downloads section at the bottom of this page.
Payments to suppliers
We want to be open about how we spend your money and our payments to suppliers page details everything we've spent over £500 inclusive of VAT.
Senior officers' remuneration
Details of the pay of our senior officers are provided within Note 32 of the Council's Statement of Accounts. See Related Downloads at the bottom of this page for an extract from Note 32 of the Statement.
The definition of a senior officer can be found within the Glossary section of our Statement of Accounts.
The following link will take you to an organogram showing the senior staffing structure at the Council.
Tenders and contracts
Details can be found on our quotes and tender opportunities page.
Constitution
Our Constitution describes how we operate and contains all the detailed procedures and rules which we have adopted.
Statement of Accounts
All councils in the UK are required by law to publish an Annual Statement of Accounts which is compiled in accordance with a code of accounting practice laid down by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
Our Statement of Accounts gives financial information on all the services we provide during the year as well as the financial position at the year end.
Our budget
Each year we set a budget for the following year and formulate a Medium Term Financial Plan which covers a five year period. The calculation of our portion of the Council Tax is based on this budget. Visit our Finance and Accountancy page for further Budget information.
Regular budget monitoring reports are made to the Performance and Audit Committee. Here are the reports for the past financial year:
April 2010 to June 2010
April 2010 to September 2010
April 2010 to December 2010
and for the current financial year:
Our Performance
We report quarterly to the Performance and Audit Committee on how we are doing against our performance indicators, actions and objectives and whether we are on track to fulfill the commitments in our Strategic Plan and Council Plans. Quarterly performance reports are available to download.
Committee papers
All committee papers are available on this website.