1.1  Powers of the Council

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

1.2  The Constitution

The Constitution of Devon County Council comprises these Articles and all the appendices incorporated in Parts 3–9.

1.3  Purpose of the Constitution

• to set out how the Council will exercise its powers and duties and provide leadership to the community in co-operation with the public, businesses and other organisations;
• to set out how decisions will be taken;
• to ensure that the people responsible for decision making are clearly identifiable and that they explain the reasons for their decisions;
• to establish a means of holding decision makers to public account;
• to ensure that no one will review or scrutinise a decision in which he or she was directly involved;
• to support the involvement of members of the public in the Council's decision-making processes;
• to help councillors represent their constituents.

1.4 Interpretation and Review of the Constitution

Where the Constitution permits the Council to choose between different courses of action the Council will always choose the option which it thinks is closest to the purposes stated above. The Council will monitor and evaluate the operation of the Constitution in accordance with Article 15.

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