Council and democracy

Councillors

We are run by councillors who are elected by local residents. Councillors are responsible for making decisions on behalf of the local community about:

• local services
• budgets
• Council Tax

Each councillor is responsible for representing a ward and once elected will serve for a total of four years. The work of a councillor includes:

• representing local people
• supporting local organisations
• campaigning on local issues
• developing links with all parts of the community

To find out who your councillor is, or to contact them, please see Your Councillors.

Councillors are not paid a salary or wage, but are entitled to allowances and expenses to cover some of the costs of carrying out their public duties. All councillors abide by a code of conduct, part of which requires them to declare any financial interests, gifts or hospitality that could influence any decisions they make. Please see Councillors' allowances and Members' Code of Conduct for more information.

Committees

Decisions are made through council committees. The meetings calendar lists dates of all committee meetings throughout the next year.

The leader

The leader of the council is Cllr Adrian England. The leader is chosen by all members of the council at annual council meetings. The leader chairs all meetings of the council’s cabinet and leads on policy development and implementation.

Council staff

While the elected councillors make the decisions on what should be done, the paid employees - council officers - put them into practice. We employ around 780 staff who are responsible for a wide range of services that benefit the local community.

Council budget

You can find out about our finances, including the annual report and the statement of accounts, on our performance and spending page.

The senior management team

The senior management team manages the activities of the council staff and advises councillors on the potential implications of political decisions.

By law, senior council staff are not allowed to take part in any party political activity and are expected to advise and assist all councillors irrespective of their political affiliation.

• The Chief Executive is Claire Hamilton, chiefexecutive@dacorum.gov.uk
  

You can see the full structure of the council by downloading our  organisation chart (PDF 1MB). We also have an accessible version:  Organisation chart accessible (PDF 112KB).