Decision making in the committee structure

The Council has a hierarchy of decision-making.

Decisions are either made at:

  • Full Council meetings
  • Standing Committees
  • Local Committees
  • other committees and panels
  • or by delegation to individual employees

All decisions of the Council are made in accordance with the following principles:

  • proportionality (the action must be proportionate to the desired outcome)
  • due consultation and taking professional advice from officers
  • respect of human rights
  • a presumption in favour of openness
  • clarity of aims and desired outcomes
  • the Council's Corporate Goals and Action Plans, core values and strategies
  • the decision is within approved budgets

Standing Committees

The purpose of Standing Committees is to:

  • examine specific issues or aspects of policy, procedure or service in detail
  • make recommendations to the Council 
  • take decisions on matters that do not need to be referred to the Council

Members of the committee are Councillors from each party group. They may include non-Councillors by invitation.

The Standing Committees of Sutton Council are:

Records of Decisions

Records of decisions at committee get published online or in the minutes of the meeting. 

Search or browse a list of decisions made by committee.

The Forward Plan

The Forward Plan provides an overview of decisions which are due to be made by the committees of the council.