Horsham District Council has fully adopted a new revised constitution.
The new constitution, approved at a full Council meeting on 2 April, was based on independent feedback and recommendations from a recent wholesale Local Government Association review and involved both Council officers and a cross-political party working group.
The Council’s constitution outlines the structures, powers and functions of a local authority and how it operates.
Key changes in the new constitution include:
- An increase to the time allowed for members of the public to speak at planning committee meetings.
- Creation of an additional scrutiny committee focused on communities, planning and the local economy in order to enhance the scrutiny function and enable more meaningful engagement in policy development.
- An enhanced schedule of regular all-member briefings, replacing the much smaller Policy Development Advisory Groups.
- A single planning committee for the whole District, where members will be required to attend extensive training to make sound decisions that will be rooted in planning policy, while allowing other local members to speak more freely on behalf of residents.
- An increased requirement for members on specialist committees such as planning to undergo relevant training.
- Splitting the licensing function into two committees: one to deal with matters such as the determination of premises licences and the other to deal with a variety of other matters including taxi licensing.
Commenting on the new constitution, Horsham District Council Chief Executive Jane Eaton said:
The Council is very pleased to have approved and now fully adopted its new Constitution.
The changes included in the new Constitution include the recommendations from an independent governance review of the Council by the Local Government Association.
The new Constitution clearly defines the roles, responsibilities and processes of the Council.
The new constitution is officially adopted in full from 23 April 2025.
A print copy of the new constitution will be retained at the Council’s offices for public inspection and it is available to read on our Constitution webpage.