This is where you can find the reports for decisions made by the Council. To view the minutes of meetings please go to the relevant meeting page by navigating from the Meeting Calendar tab or the Committees tab.

This includes decisions taken at Committee meetings as well as decisions taken by individual Portfolio Holders from May 2014 onwards.

For individual Portfolio Holder decisions before 2014, please use the connected sub tab labelled Portfolio Holder Decisions before 2014

Structure of the Council

Following the introduction of the Local Government Act 2000 a new political structure was adopted in Colchester. The old Committee system was replaced by a new system . Under this system, a Council leader is appointed who is responsible for forming a Cabinet. The Cabinet is responsible for most decision making on day to day matters, although it must operate within the policy framework set by the full Council.

A number of Panels are in place to scrutinise decisions and review and develop policy. The Planning and Licensing Committees and the Governance and Audit Committee are responsible for the regulatory functions of the Council.

The Leader of the Council and the Cabinet

The Leader of the Council is elected annually at the Council’s Annual meeting. The Council is currently run by a joint administration consisting of the Liberal Democrat Group, the Labour Group and the Highwoods Group. The Council Leader is Councillor Mark Cory (Liberal Democrat).

The Cabinet is made up of eight Councillors, each of whom is responsible for a specific area, known as a Portfolio. The political composition of the Cabinet is 4 Liberal Democrat members, 3 Labour members and 1 Highwoods member. Further information about the membership of the Cabinet is available from the Committees tab.