Procedural Points
NOTICE OF MEETINGS (Parish and Town Councils in England)
Council and public must be given at least three clear days notice of meeting.
Agenda must specify time and place and the business to be transacted.
Clerk must send it to the councillors usual place of residence.
Notice must be posted in a conspicuous place in the parish.
But the failure to serve notice does not affect the validity of the meeting.
FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS
Council must have an Annual Meeting on any day in May but in an election year this must be held between the 4th and 18th day following the date of the election.This must not be confused with the Annual Parish Meeting which is a meeting of the electorate of your Parish which must be held, by law, between the 1 March and 1 June (inclusive) each year.
Councils in England must meet on at least three other occasions in the year.
CONVENING MEETINGS
The clerk convenes ordinary (and on occasion extraordinary) meetings.
The chair may convene an extraordinary meeting at any time.
If two members sign a requisition that an extra ordinary meeting be convened, the chair must convene it within seven days. If he/she fails to do so, the members may convene.
THE QUORUM
The quorum is three, or one third of the total membership, whichever is the greater.
Where more than one third of the total membership is disqualified from speaking or voting on a subject, the quorum is three or one third of those qualified.
CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR
The election of chair must be the first business at the Annual Meeting of the Council.
The council may appoint a vice chair.
The chair, or in the chairs absence the vice chair, must preside if present.
If the chair is not present at a meeting and there is no vice chair, the election of chair must be the first business of the meeting.
A retiring chair, who is no longer a member, has only a casting vote in the election for a new chair. Otherwise, the chair may vote initially and have a casting vote and can vote for himself.
DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER
Councillors cannot act until they have signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office and an agreement to abide by the local code of conduct.
The chair must also sign a Declaration as chair at the meeting when elected.
The vice chair is not required to make a declaration as vice chair.
Councillors make these commitments at or before the first meeting after they have been elected.
APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES
The council can appoint such committees as the council wishes.
Committees can appoint sub committees.
All members of the Finance Committee must be councillors.
Any function can be delegated to a committee except the power to borrow money, issue a precept or approve end of year accounts.
Committees can delegate any functions to a sub committee.
APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS
Councils can appoint such officers as they think fit.
Councils must appoint a responsible officer.
A councillor can be appointed as a temporary officer but cannot be paid.
RIGHTS OF PUBLIC TO ATTEND MEETINGS
The press and the public have the right to attend meetings of the council. The law suggest that this includes sub committees as well as committees.
The council may by passing a resolution, exclude them either if the publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest because of the confidential nature of the business or for other reasons stated in the resolution and arising from the nature of the business.
PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS
A member must formally disclose or declare an interest if s/he has a personal interest in any item to be discussed at any meeting of the council.
Interests are personal or prejudicial.
A councillor has a personal interest in a matter affecting the well being, financial or otherwise, of (more than others in the parish) self, family, friends, employment or business interests (including shareholdings over £25,000).
A personal interest becomes a prejudicial interest if a member of the public (with knowledge of the relevant facts) might think that the councillors judgement of the public interest could be prejudiced. (This does not relate to another authority where the councillor is a member or when the councillor represents the council on another body).
The member must disclose the interest at the meeting and as soon as possible after its commencement.
If members have a personal interest, they must stay in the room and vote after declaring the interest. Members can now only have a prejudial interest if the interest is of a financial nature. A member with a prejudicial interest can now speak as a member of the public but only if the council has adopted 12 (2) of the Revised Code of Conduct and only in accordance with the rules contained in Council Standing Orders. They must then withdraw from the meeting and avoid influencing a decision on the matter.
MINUTES
Minutes must be entered in a minute book.
Minutes must be signed at the same time or the next following meeting by the person presiding. Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council must be signed at the next ordinary meeting not the next Annual Meeting of the council.
The minute book can be loose leaf so long as each leaf is numbered sequentially and each is initialled by the person presiding.
CASUAL VACANCIES
A casual vacancy must be declared and publicly notified.
If a poll is claimed by at least ten electors within fourteen days excluding weekends and certain public holidays, then one must be held within sixty days of the notice.
A poll cannot be claimed if the vacancy arose within six months of the day when the councillor whose office is declared vacant would ordinarily have retired.
If no poll is claimed, or one cannot be claimed (as above), then the councillors must try to fill the vacancy by co-option.
To be co-opted the successful candidate must receive an absolute majority of those present and voting.
FAILURE OF A COUNCILLOR TO ATTEND MEETINGS
If a councillor fails for six consecutive months to attend any meetings of the council, even including site visits, then s/he ceases to be a councillor unless either their absence is due to employment in the armed forces during war or emergency, or the council approved the reason for non attendance before the six months period expired.
Because of these rules, and for other reasons, the clerk must keep an attendance record for all meetings. It is good practice to accept and record apologies.
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