Standing Orders
LONDONTHORPE AND HARROWBY WITHOUT PARISH COUNCIL
STANDING ORDERS
For the
REGULATION OF PROCEEDINGS
And
BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL
Adopted by the Parish Council in January 2015.
Updated July 2016 July 17 & Sept 17
New Code of Conduct incorporated.
MEETINGS
1] Meetings of the Council shall be held on the second Wednesday of May, September, November, January and March and the first Wednesday of July at 7.00pm unless the Council otherwise decides at a previous meeting.
2] The Statutory Annual Meeting [a] in an election year shall be held on or within 14 days following the day on which the councillors elected take office and [b] in a year which is not an election year shall be held on the second Wednesday in May.
a. The chairperson will stand for a maximum term of two years before standing down. Should there be no one wishing to take on the position the outgoing chair could be asked to carry on. This would require a majority verdict in favour. (This includes committee chairman as well)
CHAIRMAN OF MEETING
3] The person presiding at a meeting may exercise all the powers and duties of the Chairman in relation to the conduct of the Meeting.
PROPER OFFICER
4] The Clerk is the proper officer for any purpose in respectof which a proper officer is mentioned in any Statute, Regulation or Order.
QUORUM
5] Five members shall constitute a quorum.
6] If a quorum is not present or if during a meeting the number of councillors present [not counting those debarred by reason of a declared interest] falls below the required quorum, the meeting shall be adjourned and business not transacted shall be transacted at the next meeting or on such other day as the Chairman may fix.
VOTING
7] Members shall vote by show of hands, or, if at least two members so request, by signed ballot.
8] If a member so requires, the Clerk shall record the names of the members who voted on any question so as to show whether they voted for or against it. Such a request must be made before moving on to the next business.
9] [a] Subject to [b] and [c] below the Chairman may give an original vote on any matter put to the vote and in any case of an equality of votes may give a casting vote whether or not he gave an original vote.
[b] If the person presiding at the annual meeting would have ceased to be a member of the council but for the statutory provisions which preserve the membership of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman until the end of their term of office he may not give an original vote in an election for Chairman.
[c] The person presiding must give a casting vote whenever there is an equality of votes in an election for Chairman.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
10] At each Annual Parish Council Meeting the first business shall be: -
[a] To elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman,
The chairperson will stand for a maximum term of two years before standing down. Should there be no one wishing to take on the position the outgoing chair could be asked to carry on. This would require a majority verdict in favour. (This includes committee chairman as well)
[b] To receive all declarations of acceptance of office,
[c] In an election year to fill any vacancies left unfilled at the election by reason of insufficient nomination,
[d] To appoint sub-committees and representatives,
[e] To approve the minutes and deal with agenda items.
11] A motion to vary the order of business as shown by theagenda may be proposed on the grounds of urgency by the chairman or by any member, and shall be put to the vote without discussion.
RESOLUTION MOVED ON NOTICE
12] Except as provided by these Standing Orders no resolution may be moved unless the business to which it related has been put on the Agenda by the Clerk or the mover has given notice in writing to the Clerk at least three clear working days before the next meeting of the Council.
13] The Clerk shall date every notice received by them and shall record each notice in a book which shall be open to inspection of every member. Notices received before the agenda are issued shall be shown on the agendas.
14] Any resolution notified to the Clerk but not moved at the next meeting shall, unless postponed by the Council, be treated as withdrawn, and shall not be moved without fresh notice.
15] If the subject matter of a resolution comes within the province of a committee of the Council, it shall, upon being moved and seconded, stand referred without discussion to such committee or to such committee as the Council may determine for report; provided that the Chairman, if he considers it to be a matter of urgency, may allow it to be dealt with at the meeting at which it was moved.
16] Every resolution shall be relevant to some question over which the Council has power or which affects the parish.
RESOLUTION MOVED WITHOUT NOTICE
17] Resolutions on the following matters may be moved without notice:-
[a] To appoint a Chairman of the meeting.
[b] To correct the minutes.
[c] To approve the minutes.
[d] To alter the order of business.
[e] To proceed to the next business.
[f] To close or adjourn the debate.
[g] To refer a matter to a committee.
[h] To appoint a committee or any members thereof.
[i] To adopt a report.
[j] To amend a motion.
[k] To withdraw a motion.
[l] To exclude the press and public.
[m] To silence or eject from the meeting a member named for misconduct.
[n] To give consent of the Council where such consent is required by these “Standing
Orders”.
[o] To suspend any Standing Orders.
[p] To adjourn the meeting.
[q] To deal with urgent matters.
QUESTIONS
18] There will be a 10 minute period before the meeting set aside for parishioners to ask questions or to bring items they would like to be put onto a future agenda.
18a] A member may ask the Chairman, Chairman of a Committee or Clerk any question concerning the business of the Council.
19] No questions unconnected with business under discussion shall be asked except during the part of the meeting set aside for questions.
RULES OF DEBATE
20] No discussions shall take place upon the minutes except on their accuracy.
Corrections to the minutes shall be made by resolution.
21] A resolution or amendment shall not be discussed unless, it has been proposed and seconded and unless proper notice has been given.
22] If an amendment be carried the resolution as amended shall take place of the original resolution and shall become the resolution upon which any further amendment may be moved.
23] A further amendment shall not be moved until the Council has disposed of every amendment previously moved.
24] The mover of a resolution shall have a right to reply.
25] A motion or amendment may be withdrawn by the proposer with the consent of the seconder.
26] The ruling of the Chairman on a point of order shall not be questioned.
27] Members shall address the Chairman.
CLOSURE
28] At the end of any speech a member may, without comment, move “that the question be now put” or “that the debate be adjourned”. If the Chairman is of the opinion that the question before the Council has been sufficiently debated he shall thereupon put the motion.
CONDUCT OF MEMBERS
29] All members must observe the Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council.
30] No member shall at a meeting persistently disregard the ruling Chairman, wilfully obstruct business, or behave irregularly, offensively, improperly or in such a manner as to bring the Council into disrepute.
31] If, in the opinion of the Chairman, a member has acted in a manner contrary to that required, the Chairman shall express that opinion to the Council and thereafter any member may move that the member named be no longer heard or that the member named do leave the meeting, and the motion, if seconded, shall be put forthwith and without discussion. If a member reasonably believes another member is in breach of the code of conduct, that member is under a duty to report the breach to the Standards Board [England].
32] If the motion mentioned in [31] is disobeyed, the Chairman may adjourn the meeting or take such steps as may reasonably be necessary to enforce them.
RIGHT OF REPLY
33] The mover of the resolution shall have a right to reply immediately before the resolution is put to the vote. If an amendment is proposed the mover of the amendment shall be entitled to reply immediately before theamendment is put to the vote. A member exercising a right of reply shall not introduce a new matter.
After the right of reply has been exercised or waived, a vote shall be taken without further discussion.
ALTERATION OF RESOLUTION
34] A member may, with the consent of his seconder, move amendments to their own resolution.
RECISION OF PREVIOUS RESOLUTION
35] A decision of the Council shall not be reversed within six months save by a special resolution carried by two-thirds majority of those present and voting.
36] When a special resolution has been disposed of, no similar Resolution may be moved within a further six months.
VOTING ON APPOINTMENTS
37] Where more than two persons have been nominated for any position to be filled by the Council and of the votes given there is not an absolute majority in favour of one person, the name of the person having the least number of votes shall be struck off the list and a fresh vote taken, and so on until a majority of votes is given in favour of one person.
DISCUSSIONS AND RESOLUTIONS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES OF THE COUNCIL
38] If at a meeting there arises any question relating to the appointment, conduct, promotion, dismissal, salary or conditions of service, of any person employed by the Council, it shall not be considered until the Council or committee [as the case may be] has decided whether or not the press and public should be excluded.
ESTIMATES
39] Any Committee desiring to incur expenditure to be defrayed out of the rates shall, not later than the 6th November, give to the Clerk a written estimate of the expenditure recommended for the coming year, and such estimate shall be submitted to the Council at its precept meeting.
EXPENDITURE
40] Orders for the payment of money shall be authorised by resolution of the Council and two members of the Council shall sign cheques. (Where expenditure is known to be needed between meetings this should be noted on the previous Financial Statement)
SEALING OF DOCUMENTS
41] A document shall not be sealed on behalf of theCouncil unless its sealing has been authorised by a Resolution. Any two members of the Council may seal, on behalf of the council, any document required by law to be issued under seal.
COMMITTEES AND SUB-COMMITTEES
42]The Council will at the Annual Parish Council Meeting appoint the Outdoor and Leisure Committee, Planning Committee, plus the Newsletter, Best Kept Gardens and the Tom Childs Award, Working Groups. They will at any other time appoint such other committees/working groups as are deemed necessary, but subject to any statutory provisions in that behalf-
[a] Shall not appoint any member of a committee so as to hold office later than the next Annual Meeting, and
[b] May at any time dissolve or alter the membership of committee, and
[c] May appoint persons other than members of the Council to any committee, and
43] The Chairman and Vice-Chairman ex-officio shall be voting members of every committee.
44] Every Committee shall at its first meeting, before preceding to any other business, elect a Chairman who shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting of the Council.
45] All the members of the Finance Committee must be members of the Council and the Chairman of each Sub-Committee [other than the Finance Committee] are to be members of the Finance Committee.
46] The chairman of a committee or the chairman of the Council may summon a special meeting of that committee at any time. A special meeting shall also be summoned on the requisition in writing of not less than a quarter of the members of the committee. The summons shall set out the business to be considered at the special meeting and no other business shall be transacted at that meeting.
47] Every committee may appoint sub-committees for purposes to be specified by the committee and the chairman of that committee shall be a member unless they signify that they do not wish to serve.
48] Except where ordered by the Council in the case of a committee or by the Council in the case of a sub-committee, the quorum of a committee or sub-committee shall be one-half of its members.
49] The Standing Orders for Council shall apply to Committees.
VOTING IN COMMITTEES
50] [A] Members of committees and sub-committees entitled to vote, shall vote by a show of hands, or, if at least two members so request, by signed ballot.
[B] Chairmen of committees and sub-committees shall in the case of an equality of votes have a second or casting vote.
PRESENCE OF NON-MEMBERS OF COMMITTEES AT COMMITTEE MEETINGS
51] A member who has proposed a resolution which has been referred to any committee of which he is not a member, may explain his resolution to the committee but shall not vote.
52] Any Council member shall, unless the Council otherwise orders, be entitled to be present as a spectator at the meetings of any committee or sub-committee which he is not a member.
ACCOUNTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
53] Except as provided below all accounts for payment shall be laid before the Council before being paid. Where it is necessary to make a payment in advance of any Council meeting, the Responsible Financial Officer shall certify such payment as to its correctness and urgency. Such payment may be authorised by the committee, if any, having charge of the business to which it relates, or the Chairman or Vice-Chairman subject to the action being ratified at the next meeting of the Council. All payments shall be recorded in the minutes.
54] The Responsible Financial Officer shall supply each member as soon as practicable after 31 March in each year a statement of the receipts and payments of the Council for the completed financial year. A Financial Statement prepared on the appropriate accounting basis [receipts and payment or income and expenditure] for a year to 31 March shall be presented to each member before the end of the following month of May. The Statement of Accounts of the Council [which is subject to external audit] shall be presented to Council for formal approval before the end of the following month of September.
55] Precepts on the rating authority that are recommended by the Council shall be reported to the next Annual Parish Meeting.
INTERESTS
56] If a member has a personal interest as defined by the Code of Conductthen he shall declare such interest as soon as it becomes apparent, disclosing the existence and nature of that interest as required.
57] If a member who has declared a personal interest then considers the interest to be prejudicial, he must withdraw from the room during consideration of the item to which the interest relates.
58] The Clerk may be required to compile and hold a Register of Member’s Interests, or a copy thereof, in accordance with agreement reached with the Monitoring Officer of the Responsible Authority and/or as required.
59] If a candidate for any appointment under the Council is to his knowledge related to any member of or the holder of an office under the Council, he and the person to whom he is related shall disclose the relationship in writing to the Clerk. A candidate who fails so to do shall be disqualified for such appointment and if appointed may be dismissed without notice. The Clerk shall report to the Council or to the appropriate committee any such disclosure. Where relationship to a member is disclosed this Standing Order shall apply.
60] The Clerk shall make known the purpose of this Standing Order to every candidate.
CANVASSING AND RECOMMENDATIONS BY MEMBERS
61] [a] Canvassing of members of the Council or of any committee, directly or indirectly, for any appointment under the Council shall disqualify the candidate for such appointment. The Clerk shall make known the purpose of this sub-paragraph of this Standing Order to every candidate.
[b] A member of the Council or of any committee shall not solicit for any person any appointment under the Council or recommend any person for such appointment or for promotion; but, nevertheless, any such member may give a written testimonial of a candidate’s ability, experience or character for submission to the Council with an application for appointment.
62] Standing Order 61 & 63 shall apply to tenders as if the person making the tender were a candidate for an appointment.
INSPECTION OF DOCUMENTS
63] A member may for the purpose of their duty as such, inspect any document in possession of the Council or a committee, and if copies are available shall, on request, be supplied for the like purpose with a copy.
64] All minutes kept by the Council and by any committee shall be open for the inspection of any member of the Council.
UNAUTHORISED ACTIVITIES
65] No less than 2 members of the Council or of any committee or sub-committee shall in the name of or on behalf of the Council:- [a] inspect any land or premises which the Council has a right or duty to inspect; or [b] issue orders, instructions or directions unless authorised to do so by the Council or the relevant committee or sub-committee.
ADMISSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS
66] The public and press shall be admitted to all meetings of the Council, which may, however, temporarily exclude the public and press by means of the following resolution “that in view of the special nature of the business about to be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the press and public be temporarily excluded and they are instructed to withdraw”.
67] The Council, committee or sub-committee shall state the special reason for exclusion.
68] At all meetings of the Council, the Chairman may at their discretion and at a convenient time in the transaction of business, adjourn the meeting so as to allow any members of the public to address the meeting in relation to the business to be transacted at that meeting.
69] The Clerk shall afford to the press reasonable facilities for the taking of their report of any proceedings at which they are entitled to be present.
70] If any member of the public interrupts the proceedings at any meeting, the Chairman may, after warning, order that they be removed from the meeting and may adjourn the meeting for such period as is necessary to restore order.
CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
71] [a] No member of the Council or of any committee or sub-committee shall disclose to any person not a member of the Council any business declared to be confidential by the Council, the committee or the sub-committee as the case may be.
[b] Any member in breach of the provisions of paragraph [a] of this Standing Order shall be removed from any committee or sub-committee of the Council by the Council.
LIAISON WITH COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS.
72] A notice of meeting shall be sent together with an invitation to attend to the County Councillor for the division in which the parish lies and to the District Councillors for the parish.
73] Unless the Council otherwise orders, a copy of each letter ordered to be sent to the County or District Council shall be transmitted to the County Councillor for the division or to the District Councillor for the parish as the case may require.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
74] All applications for planning permission which are received by the Clerk shall be recorded in a Register on the computer [a] the date it was received, [b] the name of the applicant, [c] the place at which it relates and [d] when dealt with and reply sent. These will all be presented to the next meeting of the Council. All members of the council are to be notified of all application numbers and addresses by email when received by the Clerk. The Clerk shall notify the Chairman, District Council members of any applications he feels may be controversial to ascertain how they shall be dealt with i.e. full council.
The clerk is delegated to act on behalf of the council by collating all replies from the relevant councillors. This will be forwarded as required to SKDC Planning. (Amendment July17)
75] All applications shall be passed to at least three members of the Parish Council these should where possible include the councillors local to the application. If there are insufficient members available covering that area others from the neighbouring area will be asked to make up the number.
Should there be an objection to any application the Chairman and minimum of three other members to be asked for their opinion? Any councillor may ask for a meeting of all councillors to be called.
76] All applications received, whether or not any action has been taken on them shall be reported to the next meeting of the Council.
FINANCIAL MATTERS
77] The Council shall consider and approve Financial Regulations drawn up by the Responsible Financial Officer.
[1] Such Regulations shall include detailed arrangements for the following:-
[a] The accounting records and systems of internal control;
[b] The assessment and management of risks faced by the Council;
[c] The work of the Internal Auditor and the receipt of regular reports from the Internal Auditor which shall be required at least annually;
[d] The financial reporting requirements of members and local electors and
[e] Procurement policies [subject to [2] below] including the setting of values for different procedures where the contract has an estimated value less than £5,000.
[f] In between meetings the Clerk/RFO may order works up to £800 in value as required to ensure smooth running of the council’s affairs. These must be listed on the next financial statement to the councillors for agreement.
[2] Any proposed contract for the supply of goods, material, services and execution of works with an estimated value in excess of £5,000 shall be procured on the basis of a formal tender as summarised in [3] below.
[3] Any formal tender process shall comprise the following steps:
[a] At least three quotes are required, to include as many as possible local contractors.
[b] A specification of the goods, materials, services and the execution of works shall be drawn up;
[c] Tenders are to be sent, in a sealed marked envelope, to the Clerk by a stated date and time;
[d] Tenders submitted are to be opened, after the stated closing date and time, by the Clerk when anticipated to be below £5000. Above £5000 by the Clerk and at least one member of the Council .
[e] Tenders are then to be assessed and reported to the appropriate meeting of the Council or Committee.
[4] The Council or a committee is not bound to accept the lowest tender, estimate or quote. Any tender notice shall contain a reference to the Standing Orders 60 & 62 regarding improper activity.
[5] The Financial Regulations of the Council shall be subject to regular review, at least once every four years.
See Financial regulations for fuller details
THE CODE OF CONDUCT ON COMPLAINTS BY THE COUNCIL.
78] The Council shall deal with complaints of maladministration allegedly committed by the Council or by any officer or member in such manner as adopted by the Council except for those complaints which should be properly directed to the Standards Board [England] for consideration.
VARIATION, REVOCATION AND SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
79] Any or every part of the Standing Orders except those printed in bold type may be suspended by resolution in relation to any specific item of business.
80] A resolution permanently to add, vary or revoke a Standing Order shall, when proposed and seconded, stand adjourned to the next meeting of the Council.
STANDING ORDERS TO BE GIVEN TO MEMBERS
81] A copy of these Standing Orders shall be given to each member by the Clerk upon delivery to him of the member’s declaration of acceptance of office and written undertaking to observe the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council.
MATTERS RAISED BY PARISHIONERS
82] Whenever a parishioner wishes to bring any matter to the notice of the Parish Council; they should put their case in writing, sign it and forward to the Parish Clerk or they may of course approach a Parish Councillor directly.