Devon County Council

3.1 People's rights

Those who live and work in Devon have the rights summarised in (a) to (d) below. Their rights to information about and to participate in decision-making are explained in more detail in the Access to Information Procedure Rules in Part 4 of this Constitution:

(a) Voting and petitions

Residents on the electoral roll for the area have the right to vote and to sign a petition to request a referendum for an elected mayor form of constitution.

(b) Information The people of Devon have the right to:

(i) attend meetings of the Council, its committees and the Executive except where confidential or exempt information is disclosed and the meeting is therefore held in private;

(ii) find out from the Forward Plan what key decisions will be taken by the Executive and when;

(iii) see reports and background papers and any records of decisions made by the Council and the Executive; and

(iv) inspect the Council’s accounts and make their views known to the external auditor.

(c) Participation

The people of Devon have the right to ask questions at meetings of the County Council, the Executive and the Standards Committee.  There is no other general right to speak at meetings although members of the public concerned about specific planning applications do have the right to make oral representations at meetings of the Development Control Committee and likewise in respect of traffic regulation proposals at Highways and Traffic Orders Committees, and proposals for public path orders at the Public Rights of Way Committee, as set out in Part 4 of this constitution.  At any of these meetings people can also submit petitions relating to the County Council's functions or written representations relating to an item on the agenda for that meeting.  They may also contribute in writing or orally by invitation to investigations carried out by Overview/Scrutiny committees.

(d) Complaints

The people of Devon have the right to complain to:

(i) the councillor who represents the division in which they live or work;

(ii) the Council under its complaints scheme;

(iii) the Ombudsman (after having exhausted the Council’s own complaints scheme);

(iv) the Standards Board for England about a breach of the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

3.2 Responsibilities of members of the public

All councillors and officers are entitled to be treated with courtesy. Members of the public must not be violent, abusive or threatening to councillors or officers and must not wilfully damage Council property.

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