Committees are a way for councillors to debate and decide the policies that govern how we provide local services.

You can watch most committee meetings live on our YouTube channel or catch up on them afterwards. You can ask questions or make statements at most meetings.

• Our committees
• Find out more about attending committee meetings

Following a review of our governance arrangements, councillors approved changes at the annual meeting in May 2025.

To access any information about committees before May 2025, follow the ‘our committees’ link above. Select ‘all committees’ in the filter to see the history of the all the committees we have had over the years.

Types of committee

Full Council is a meeting that all councillors attend. Certain decisions have to be made by the full council, such as approving of the council’s budget.

The Cabinet is responsible for proposing the policy framework and budget to the full council and for discharging executive functions in accordance with the policy framework and budget.

Overview and scrutiny committees are responsible for scrutinising decisions made by the cabinet before and after they have been implemented and for holding the executive to account. They can also ‘deep dive’ into new strategies or policies before they are adopted.

We currently have two overview and scrutiny committees:

• Performance, Assets and Strategy Scrutiny Committee
• Services, Climate and Communities Scrutiny Committee

Regulatory committees make decisions that the cabinet is not allowed to make.

The General Purposes and Licensing Committee and Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 Committee make decisions about licensing policy for:

• the sale of alcohol and other activities under the Licensing Act 2003
• taxi vehicles
• market and street trading
• sex establishments

Licensing subcommittees consider hearings and applications in relation to these items.

The Planning Committee meets each month to deal with major planning applications. It also deals with minor planning applications that are not being determined by officers under delegated powers.

The Civic Affairs and Audit Committee is responsible for corporate governance, including:

• electoral issues
• audit and regulatory financial matters
• civic and democratic process
• miscellaneous regulatory responsibilities