Find out how your council works

We are responsible for council tax and local services such as planning, housing and environmental issues.

The Leader of the Council is responsible for most day-to-day decisions. The Leader can delegate these to:

• the Executive;
• committees of the Executive;
• individual lead councillors on the Executive;
• individual local ward councillors;
• officers

The roles and responsibilities for making decisions are set out in the Constitution. Some parts of the Constitution are required by law and some are based on the council's own policies.

View the latest version of the Council Constitution and the supporting documents .

The council's strategy and vision for the next five years is set out in the Corporate Plan.

Councillors are elected by residents to decide how the council should carry out its activities.

The political composition of the council is currently:

• 17 Guildford Liberal Democrats
• 16 Residents for Guildford and Villages
• 8 Conservatives
• 3 Guildford Greenbelt Group
• 2 Labour
• 1 Independent Member
• 1 vacancy

You can view the most recent election results.

For information and to have your say in local issues you can contact your local councillor (opens new window).

The council's committees meet regularly to make decisions. You can find out when meetings are taking place by viewing our committee calendar (opens new window).

Use the links below to find agendas, reports, minutes and councillor membership of each committee.

• Council (opens new window)
• Executive (opens new window)
• Overview and Scrutiny Committee (opens new window)
• Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board (opens new window)
• Strategy and Resources Executive Board (opens new window)
• Corporate Governance and Standards Committee (opens new window)
• Employment Committee (opens new window)
• Licensing Committee (opens new window)
• Planning Committee (opens new window)

The committees meet in public and are webcast online. You can find out the dates of the meetings from the committee calendar. (opens new window) You can find out how to take part in these meetings through our Have your say at a council or committee meeting page.

The Executive (opens new window) includes the Leader of the Council and the lead councillors. The Executive has a Forward Plan (opens new window) of decisions to be taken.

Two Executive Advisory Boards comprising of 'backbench' councillors advise the Executive on policy development and some decisions on the Forward Plan.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee can investigate decisions made by the Executive and lead councillors.

You can find a list of recent decisions (opens new window) the Executive have taken.