Part 4 - Council Procedure Rules
Council Procedure Rules
These rules set out how meetings of the Council and most committees will be conducted, for example who can speak when and how proposals are debated. Simply click on one of the links below to jump to the information you are interested in.
1. Annual Council Meeting
1.1 In a year when there is an ordinary election of Councillors, the annual meeting will take place within 21 days of the retirement of the outgoing Councillors. In any other year, the annual meeting will take place in March, April or May.
The annual meeting will:
(a) elect a person to preside if the Chair of the Council is not present;(b) elect the Chair of the Council;(c) appoint the Vice Chair of the Council;(d) receive any declarations of interest;(e) approve the minutes of the last meeting;(f) receive any announcements from the Chair of the Council and/or the Chief Executive;(g) elect the Leader of the Council for a four year term;(h) appoint at least one Scrutiny Committee, an Ethical Standards Committee and such other Committees as the Council considers appropriate to deal with matters which are neither reserved to the Council Meeting nor are Executive Functions(i) decide the size and terms of reference for those boards and committees;(j) decide the allocation of seats to political groups in accordance with the political balance rules;(k) receive nominations of Councillors to serve on each board or committee and outside body; and(l) appoint to those boards committees and outside bodies except where appointment to those bodies has been delegated by the Council or is exercisable only by the Cabinet;(m) agree the scheme of delegation set out in Part 3 of this Constitution;(n) approve a programme of ordinary meetings of the Council for the year (if not already agreed); and
1.2 Provided always that this is without prejudice to the right of the Council at any time to establish or dissolve any board or committee (apart from the Ethical Standards Committee and the Cabinet) or to review its size and terms of reference.
2. Ordinary Meetings
2.1 Ordinary meetings of the Council will take place in accordance with a programme decided by the Council. Ordinary meetings will:
(a) elect a person to preside if the Chair of the Council or Deputy Chair of the Council is not present;(b) approve the minutes of the last meeting;(c) receive any declarations of interest from Members;(d) receive any announcements from the Chair of the Council, Leader, Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive;(e) receive any Deputations; consider petitions submitted in accordancewith the Council's Petitions Scheme(f) receive any questions from, and provide answers to, the public;(g) receive any questions from members of the Council;(h) deal with any business from the last Council meeting;(i) receive reports from the Cabinet and the Council’s Boards or committees and receive questions and answers on any of those reports as required by law or specifically referred by those bodies;(j) receive reports about and receive questions and answers on the business of joint arrangements and external organisations;(k) consider motions; and(l) consider any other business specified in the summons to the meeting.
3. Extraordinary Meetings
3.1 Those listed below may require the Chief Executive to call Council meetings in addition to ordinary meetings:
(a) the Council by resolution;(b) the Chair of the Council;(c) the Monitoring Officer; and(d) any five Members of the Council if they have signed a requisition presented to the Chair of the Council and he/she has refused to call a meeting or has failed to call a meeting within seven days of the presentation of the requisition.
3.2 When requested the Chief Executive shall call a meeting of the Council unless he or she is of the opinion that the business to be discussed at the proposed meeting can conveniently wait until the next ordinary meeting of the Council.
3.3 No business may be conducted at an extraordinary meeting other than that specified in the resolution, request or requisition which led to its being called.
4. Time and Place of Meetings
4.1 All Council meetings will begin at 2.00 p.m. unless the Council Meeting or the Chair of the Council decides otherwise. The Council will normally meet in the Council Offices.
5. Notice of meetings
5.1 The Monitoring Officer or other authorised officer will give notice to the public of the time and place of any meeting in accordance with the Access to Information Rules.
6. Chair of Meeting
6.1 The person presiding at a meeting of the Council may exercise any power or duty of the Chair of the Council. Where these rules apply to meetings of boards or committees, references to the Chair of the Council also include the chair of boards or committees.
7. Quorum
7.1 Subject to any specific statutory requirement, the quorum of a meeting will be one quarter of the whole number of members or three voting members, whichever is the greater, except for the Cabinet which will be five. If a quorum is not reached 15 minutes after the time appointed for the start of the meeting, the meeting will stand adjourned. During any meeting if the person chairing the meeting counts the number of members present and declares there is not a quorum present, then the meeting will adjourn immediately. Remaining business will be considered at a time and date fixed by the person chairing the meeting. If he/she does not fix a date, the remaining business will be considered at the next ordinary meeting.
8. Questions By The Public
8.1 General.
Members of the public may ask questions of members of the Cabinet at ordinary meetings of the Council.
8.2 Order of Questions.
Where provision is made for questions by the public at a Council meeting, a maximum of fifteen minutes will be allowed. Questions will be asked in the order of which notice of them was received, except that the Chair of the Council may group together similar questions.
8.3 Notice of Questions.
A question may only be asked if notice has been given by delivering it in writing or by electronic mail to the Assistant Director - Governance no later than midday three clear working days before the day of the meeting. Each question must give the name and address of the questioner and must name the member of the Council to whom it is to be put.
8.4 Number of Questions.
At any one meeting no person may submit more than one question and no more than one question may be asked on behalf of any one organisation.
8.5 Scope of Questions.
The Assistant Director - Governance may reject a question if it:
(a) is not about a matter for which the Council has a responsibility or which affects the district;(b) is defamatory, frivolous or offensive;(c) is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of the Council in the past six months;(d) requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information;(e) relates to a planning application.
If a question is rejected the person who submitted it will be notified in writing before the meeting and given the reasons for the rejection.
8.6 Record of Questions.
The Assistant Director - Governance will enter each question in a book open to public inspection and will immediately send a copy of the question to the member to whom it is to be put. Rejected questions will include reasons for rejection. Copies of all questions will be circulated to all members and will be made available to the public attending the meeting.
8.7 Asking the Question at the Meeting.
The Chair of the Council will invite the questioner to put the question to the member named in the notice. If a questioner who has submitted a written question is unable to be present, the question will not be dealt with.
8.8 Supplemental Question.
A questioner who has put a question in person may also put one brief supplementary question without notice to the member who has replied to his or her original question. A supplementary question must arise directly out of the original request or reply. The Chair of the Council may reject a supplementary question on any of the grounds in rule 8.5 above or if the question takes the form of a speech.
8.9 Written Answers.
Any question which cannot be dealt with during public question time, either because of lack of time or because of the non-attendance of the member to whom it was to be put, will be dealt with by a written answer.
8.10 Reference of Question to the Cabinet or a Committee.
Unless the Chair of the Council decides otherwise, no discussion will take place on any question, but any Councillor may move that the matter raised by a question be referred to the Cabinet or the appropriate board or committee. Once seconded, such a motion will be voted on without discussion.
9. Questions By Councillors
9.1 On Reports of the Cabinet, or Board or Committee.
A Councillor may ask the Leader or the Chair of the Council of a board or committee questions without notice about an item in a report of the Cabinet or of that board, group or committee when it is being considered.
9.2 Questions on Notice at Council Meetings.
Subject to rule 9.3, a Councillor may ask the Chair of the Council, the Leader, any Councillor of the Cabinet or the Chair of the Council of any board or committee a question about any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the district.
9.3 Notice of Questions.
A Councillor may only ask a question under Rule 9.2 if either:
(a) they have given at least 3 clear working days notice in writing of the question to the Assistant Director - Governance; or(b) the question relates to urgent matters, they have the consent of the Councillor to whom the question is to be put and the content of the question is given to the Assistant Director - Governance by 12 noon on the day of the meeting.
9.4 Response.
An answer may take the form of:
(a) a direct oral answer;(b) where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication; or(c) a written answer circulated to the questioner.
9.5 Supplementary Question.
A Councillor asking a question under Rule 9.2 may ask one supplementary question without notice. A supplementary question must arise directly out of the original question or reply.
9.6 Number of Questions.
Questions are limited to one per Councillor per meeting, plus one supplementary question.
9.7 Time for Questions.
There will be a time-limit of fifteen minutes on Councillors' questions with no extension of time and questions not dealt with in this time will be dealt with by written response. The Chair of the Council will decide the time allocated to each question.
9.8 Format of Questions.
Councillors must confine their contributions to questions and answers and not make statements or attempt to debate. The Chair of the Council will decide whether a Councillor is contravening this rule and stop the Councillor concerned. The Chair of the Council’s ruling will be final.
10. Motions - on Notice
10.1 Notice.
Except for motions which can be moved without notice under Rule 11, written notice of every motion, signed by at least one Councillor, must be delivered to the Assistant Director - Governance not later than midday on the day seven clear working days before the date of the meeting. These will be entered in a book open to inspection by the public.
10.2 Motions Set Out in the Agenda.
Motions for which notice has been given will be listed on the agenda in the order in which notice was received, unless the Councillor giving notice states, in writing, that they propose to move it to a later meeting or withdraw it.
10.3 Scope.
Motions must be about matters for which the Council has a responsibility or which affect the area. The Chair of the Council may, on the advice of the Chief Executive, refuse a motion which is illegal, scurrilous, improper or out of order.
11. Motions and Amendments - Without Notice
11.1 The following motions and amendments may be moved without notice:
(a) to appoint a Chair of the Council of the meeting at which the motion is moved;
(b) in relation to the accuracy of the Minutes;
(c) to change the order of business in the Agenda;
(d) to refer something to an appropriate body or individual;
(e) to appoint a Committee or Councillor arising from an item on the summons for the meeting;
(f) to receive reports and recommendations of Committees or officers and to make any decisions necessarily arising;
(g) to withdraw a motion;
(h) to amend a motion;
(i) to proceed to the next business;
(j) that the question be now put;
(k) to adjourn a debate;
(l) to adjourn a meeting;
(m) to suspend a Procedure Rule to which Rule 21 applies;
(n) to exclude the public in accordance with the Access to Information Procedure Rules;
(o) not to hear a Councillor further or to require a Councillor to leave the meeting; and
(p) to give the consent of the Council where its consent is required by this Constitution.
12. Rules Of Debate
12.1 No Speeches to be Made Until Motion Seconded.
No speeches may be made after the mover has moved a proposal and explained the purpose of it until the motion has been seconded.
12.2 Right to Require a Motion in Writing.
Unless notice of the motion has already been given, the Chair of the Council may require it to be written down and handed to him or her before it is discussed.
12.3 Seconder’s Speech.
When seconding a motion or amendment, a Councillor may reserve his or her speech until later in the debate.
12.4 Content and Length of Speeches.
Speeches must be directed to the question under discussion or to a personal explanation or point of order. No speech may exceed 5 minutes without the consent of the Chair of the Council.
12.5 When a Councillor May Speak Again.
A Councillor who has spoken on a motion may not speak again whilst it is the subject of debate, except:
(a) to speak once on an amendment moved by another Councillor;(b) to move a further amendment if the motion has been amended since he or she last spoke;(c) if his or her first speech was on an amendment moved by another Councillor, to speak on the main issues (whether or not the amendment on which he or she spoke was carried);(d) to exercise a right of reply;(e) on a point of order; and(f) by way of personal explanation.
12.6 Amendments to Motions
(a) An amendment must be relevant to the motion and may:(i) refer the motion to an appropriate body or individual for consideration or re-consideration;(ii) leave out words;(iii) leave out words and insert or add others;(iv) insert or add words;
as long as the effect is not to negate the motion.
(b) Only one amendment may be moved and discussed at any one time. No further amendment may be moved until the amendment under discussion has been disposed of.(c) If an amendment is not carried, other amendments to the original motion may be moved.(d) If an amendment is carried, the motion as amended takes the place of the original motion. This becomes the substantive motion to which any further amendments are moved.(e) After an amendment has been carried, the Chair of the Council will read out the amended motion before accepting any further amendment, or if there are none, put it to the vote.
12.7 Alteration of Motion
(a) A Councillor may alter a motion of which he or she has given notice with the consent of the meeting. The meeting’s consent will be signified without discussion.(b) A Councillor may alter a motion which he or she has moved without notice with the consent of both the meeting and the seconder. The meeting’s consent will be signified without discussion.(c) Only alterations which could be made as an amendment may be made.
12.8 Withdrawal of Motion.
A Councillor may withdraw a motion which he/she has moved with the consent of both the meeting and the seconder. The meeting’s consent will be signified without discussion. No Councillor may speak on the motion after the mover has asked permission to withdraw it unless permission is refused.
12.9 Right of Reply
(a) The mover of a motion has a right to reply at the close of the debate on the motion, immediately before it is put to the vote.(b) If an amendment is moved, the mover of the original motion also has a right of reply at the close of debate on the amendment, but may not otherwise speak on the amendment.(c) The mover of an amendment shall have no right of reply to the debate on the amendment.
12.10 Motions Which may be Moved During Debate
When a motion is under debate, no other motion may be moved except the following:
(a) to withdraw the motion(b) to amend the motion;(c) to proceed to the next business;(d) that the question be now put;(e) to adjourn a debate;(f) to adjourn a meeting;(g) that the meeting continue for a further half hour;(h) to exclude the press and public; and(i) that a Councillor be not further heard or to exclude the Councillor from the meeting.
12.11 Closure Motions
(a) A Councillor may move without comment the following motions at the end of a speech of another Councillor:
(i) to proceed to next business;(ii) that the question be now put;(iii) to adjourn a debate; or(iv) to adjourn a meeting.
(b) If a motion to proceed to next business is seconded and the Chair of the Council thinks the item under discussion has been sufficiently discussed, he or she will give the mover of the original motion a right of reply and then put the procedural motion to the vote.(c) If a motion that the question be now put is seconded and the Chair of the Council thinks the item has been sufficiently discussed, he or she will put the procedural motion to the vote. If it is passed, he or she will give the mover of the original motion a right of reply before putting his/her motion to the vote.(d) If a motion to adjourn the debate or adjourn the meeting is seconded and the Chair of the Council thinks the item has not been sufficiently discussed and cannot reasonably be discussed on that occasion, he or she will put the procedural motion to the vote without giving the mover of the original motion the right of reply.
12.12 Point of Order.
A Councillor may raise a point of order at any time and the Chair of the Council will hear them immediately. A point of order may only relate to the alleged breach of these Council Procedure Rules or the law. The Councillor must indicate the rule or law and the way in which he or she considers it has been broken. The ruling of the Chair of the Council on the matter will be final.
12.13 Personal Explanation.
A Councillor may make a personal explanation at any time, A personal explanation shall only relate to some material part of an earlier speech by the Councillor which may appear to have been misunderstood in the present debate. The ruling of the Chair of the Council on the admissibility of a personal explanation will be final.
13. Previous Decisions and Motions
13.1 Motion to Rescind a Previous Decision.
A motion to rescind a decision arising from a motion moved and adopted at a Council meeting within the past six months cannot be moved unless the notice of motion is signed by at least one third of the Councillors.
13.2 Motion Similar to one Previously Rejected.
A motion or amendment in similar terms to one which has been rejected at a Council meeting within the past six months cannot be moved unless notice of motion or amendment is given signed by at least one third of the Councillors of Council.
Once a motion or amendment to which this Rule applies has been dealt with, no Councillor can propose a similar motion or amendment within the next six months.
14. Voting
14.1 Majority.
Unless this Constitution (or the law) provides otherwise any matter will be decided by a simple majority of those present and voting in the room at the time the question was put.
14.2 Chair of the Council’s Casting Vote.
If there are equal numbers of votes for and against, the Chair of the Council will have a second or casting vote. There will be no restriction on how the Chair of the Council chooses to exercise a casting vote.
14.3 Show of Hands.
Unless a recorded vote is demanded the Chair of the Council will take the vote by a show of hands, or if there is no dissent, by the affirmation of the meeting.
14.4 Recorded Vote.
If three Councillors present at the meeting demands it, the names for and against the motion or amendment or abstaining from voting will be taken down in writing and entered into the minutes.
14.5 Right to Require Individual Vote to be Recorded.
Where any Councillor requests it immediately after the vote is taken, their vote will be so recorded in the minutes to show whether they voted for or against the motion or abstained from voting.
14.6 Voting on Appointments.
If there are more than two people nominated for any position to be filled and there is not a clear majority of votes in favour of one person, then the name of the person with the least number of votes will be taken off the list and a new vote taken. The process will continue until there is a majority of votes for one person.
15. Minutes
15.1 Signing the Minutes.
The Chair of the Council will sign the minutes at the next available meeting. The Chair of the Council will move that the minutes of the previous meeting be signed as a correct record. The only part of the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.
15.2 No Requirement to Sign Minutes of Previous Meeting at an Extraordinary Meeting.
Where in relation to any meeting, the next meeting for the purposes of signing the minutes is a meeting called under paragraph 3 of schedule 12 to the Local Government Act (1972) (an extraordinary meeting), then the next following meeting (being a meeting called otherwise than under that paragraph) will be treated as a suitable meeting for the purposes of paragraph 41 (1) and (2) of schedule 12 relating to the signing of minutes.
16. Petitions
16.1 The Council welcomes petitions and recognises that they are one way in which people can let us know their concerns. All petitions submitted under the Council's Petitions Scheme attached as Appendix A to these Procedure Rules will receive an acknowledgement from the Council within 10 working days of receipt.
16.2 That acknowledgement will set out what the Council plans to do with the petition.
16.3 If a petition contains more than 1,000 signatures it will be debated by the full Council unless it is a petition asking for a senior Council officer to give evidence at a public meeting. This means that the issue raised in the petition will be discussed at a meeting which all Councillors can attend.
16.3.1 The Council will endeavour to consider the petition at its next meeting, although on some occasions this may not be possible and consideration will then take place at the following meeting.
16.3.2 The petition organiser will be given five minutes to present the petition at the meeting and the petition will then be discussed by Councillors for a maximum of up to 30 minutes.
16.3.3 The Council will decide how to respond to the petition at this meeting.
[Please refer to the Petition Scheme at Appendix A for full details.]
17. Deputations
17.1 Deputations may be received at any meeting of the Council following seven clear working days written notice to the Assistant Director - Governance. They must be about matters for which the Council has a responsibility or which affect the area. The notice must be signed by at least five persons and set out the subject which the deputation wishes to raise and how it is relates to the Council’s functions or affects the area. The Chair of the Council may, on the advice of the Chief Executive, refuse a Deputation which is illegal, scurrilous, improper, out of order or relates to a specific planning application or relates to a matter on which there has been a previous similar deputation within the preceding six months.
17.2 A maximum of two Deputations only will be permitted at any meeting and they will be selected in the order notice is received. Only one Deputation will be permitted if the Assistant Director - Governance receives notice of a petition under Rule 16.
17.3 A Deputation may consist of up to five people, of whom no more than two may speak, except to answer Councillors' questions.
17.4 The Deputation may address the meeting for no more than five minutes and Councillors may then question the deputation for a further five minutes.
17.5 The relevant portfolio holder or board or committee Chair of the Council may, if he or she chooses, then address the meeting for up to three minutes.
17.6 No vote will be taken on a Deputation. A Councillor may propose that the subject matter be placed on the agenda of the next ordinary meeting of the relevant board or committee, such a motion to be moved and seconded formally and put without discussion. If no such motion is moved or carried, the Deputation will be referred to the relevant Director or Assistant Director who will respond to it in writing within 28 days.
18. Exclusion Of The Public
18.1 The public and press may only be excluded either in accordance with the Access to Information Procedure Rules in Part 4 of this Constitution or Rule 20 (disturbance by the public).
19. Councillors’ Conduct
19.1 When the Chair of the Council stands during a debate any Councillor(s) then standing must sit down and the Council must be silent.
19.2 If a Councillor is guilty of misconduct by persistently disregarding the ruling of the Chair of the Council, or by behaving irregularly, improperly or offensively, or by deliberately obstructing business, any Councillor may move that that Councillor is not further heard. If seconded, the motion will be voted on without discussion.
19.3 If the Councillor continues to behave improperly after such a motion is carried, any Councillor may move either that the Councillor leave the meeting or that the meeting be adjourned for a specified period. If seconded, the motion will be voted on without discussion.
19.4 If there is a general disturbance making orderly business impossible, the Chair of the Council may adjourn the meeting for as long as he or she thinks necessary.
20. Disturbance By Public
20.1 If a member of the public interrupts proceedings, the Chair of the Council will warn the person concerned and, if the interruption continues, will order the person's removal from the meeting room.
20.2 If there is a general disturbance in any part of the meeting room open to the public the Chair of the Council shall order that part to be cleared.
21. Suspension and Amendment of Council Procedure Rules
21.1 Any of the Council Procedure Rules to which this Rule applies may be suspended for all or part of the business of a meeting at which suspension is moved by a motion.
21.2 Such a motion cannot be moved without notice unless at least one half of the whole number of Councillors of the Council are present.
22. Application of Council Procedure Rules to Boards and Committees
22.1 Rules 5 to 8, 11.1(a) to (p), 12, to 21 apply to meetings of all boards, groups and committees.
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