Decision making by officers

Because the council is a large organisation, it is not practicable for elected councillors to make all the decisions. A scheme of delegation allows officers to make decisions delegated to them by the council or by the Leader of the council, which makes the decision-making process more efficient.

These decisions can be about all sorts of things, including how we provide services. The level of impact that a decision might have affects how the decision can be made.

The most significant type of decision is a ‘key’ decision. Key decisions are reserved to Cabinet, unless Cabinet or the Leader - in consultation with the monitoring officer - delegates a key decision to an officer. Any key decisions taken by an officer or the Cabinet must be published on this website.

Other decisions taken by officers that must also be published include those:

• which incur or commit to expenditure that materially affects the council’s financial position over £100,000
• in respect of a grant of a permission or a licence to any person
• that affect the legal rights of an individual
• taken under an express delegation from the executive

You can view the published record of officer decisions: 

View the delegated officer decisions register on our councillors and committees website

Alternatively, you can view the full decisions register and filter by decision makers.

View the full decisions register on our councillors and committees website