Article 1 - The Constitution

1.01  Powers of the Council

The Council will exercise all its powers and duties in accordance with the law and this Constitution.

1.02  The Constitution

This Constitution, and all its appendices, is the Constitution of East Sussex County Council.

1.03  Purpose of the Constitution

The purpose of the Constitution is to:

1. enable the Council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with citizens, businesses and other organisations;

2. support the active involvement of citizens in the process of local authority decision-making;

3. help councillors represent their constituents more effectively;

4. enable decisions to be taken efficiently and effectively;

5. create a powerful and effective means of holding decision-makers to public account;

6. ensure that no one will review or scrutinise a decision in which they were directly involved;

7. ensure that those responsible for decision-making are clearly identifiable to local people and that they explain the reasons for decisions; and

8. provide a means of improving the delivery of services to the community.

1.04  Interpretation and Review of the Constitution

Where the Constitution permits the Council to choose between different courses of action, the Council will always choose that option which it thinks is closest to the purposes stated above.

The Council will monitor and evaluate the operation of the Constitution as set out in Article 15.