The Chief Executive oversees the Directorate as well as Devon County Council as a whole. Our Directorate includes the following range of functions: Community Planning, Democratic Support, Economy and Regeneration, Trading Standards, Emergency Planning and Policy and Corporate Support, including Strategic Development, Scrutiny and Communication and Information.

Our activity is very diverse, spanning partnership working, strategy and policy development, support to other Directorates and direct service delivery.

• A key responsibility of the County Community Strategy Unit is the preparation of Community Strategies. This role is carried out through multi-agency partnerships in each District area. Some of these groups have built on multi-agency approaches required by legislation, such as the Crime and Disorder Partnership. Key tasks are to ensure that these partnerships are properly constituted and to balance local interest against the need for a degree of consistency over approach and outcomes.  
• Democratic Support provides advice to Councillors, officers and the public on the operation of the democratic process by and within Devon County Council, and provides services to all committees of the County Council.
• The Trading Standards Service seeks to maintain a regulatory framework in which local businesses can compete on equal terms - both within the County and in national and international markets.  It also seeks to ensure that the safety and the economic interests of consumers are not compromised by unfair or illegal trading practices, and that satisfactory standards of livestock health and welfare are maintained.
• Emergency Planning works within a framework of legislative requirements, National Standards and Cabinet Office guidance. Responsibilities include joint strategic emergency response plans, and related training, co-ordination of the County Council’s response to a major emergency in conjunction with the emergency services, major utilities and other local authorities, and leading the co-ordination of clean up operations for a major coastal oil spill.
• Devon Property are an award winning service that constructs, maintains and manages a range of property owned by the County Council.
• The Communications Unit develops and co-ordinates the Council’s strategy to improve corporate communications (internal and external) including consultation, marketing, media and public relations, exhibitions, information centre and website.
• Strategic Intelligence has a corporate responsibility for information governance and research - providing intelligence to officers, members, partners, businesses, schools, and the public, making information findable,and managing information disclosure requests.
• Devon Legal Services ensure that the County Council operates in accordance with the law, enabling the Authority to discharge its functions efficiently and give a service to all residents and businesses in, and visitors to, the County.  This is in line with the Council’s Strategic Role.
• The County Council has four Overview/Scrutiny Committees. These support the work of the Executive and the Council as a whole and look at the effectiveness of the Council's own policies and inquire into matters of local concern. The Scrutiny Officers provide research, advice, report writing and other support for elected Members' overview/scrutiny work and in particular for the task groups which committees set up to scrutinise particular topics in detail.
• The Devon Registration Service deals with the statutory function of registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
• Her Majesty’s Coroner has a responsibility to investigate all unexpected deaths and establish the cause of that death.

• NPS South West Ltd