TEDBURN ST.
MARY PARISH COUNCIL STANDING ORDERS
References: A
Powers and Constitutions of Local Councils (NALC handbook
1987)
B
Standing Orders and Chairmanship (NALC handbook
1987)
C Local
Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 (NALC Circular January
1986)
D Code
of Member’s Conduct revised 2007)
The Parish Council consists of ten elected members assisted by
one appointed official, the Parish Clerk. Normally, the Council is elected
for a term of four years.
When a casual vacancy occurs during a four-year term, unless ten or
more electors ask for a bye-election, an individual member may be co-opted
by the Council.
STANDING ORDERS
1.
Annual
General Meeting: The statutory Annual Meeting in an
election year shall be held on the fourth day after the day of an election
or within fourteen days thereafter.
In other years it shall be held on any day in
May.
2.
Election
of the Chairman: At the Annual Meeting the first
business shall be to elect the Chairman. (The same Councillor should not
normally hold the office of Chairman for more than 2 consecutive
years. He or she may be
elected again after a gap of one year, but desirably 2
years.)
3.
The
person presiding must give a casting vote whenever there is an equality of
votes in an election for Chairman.
4.
Appointment
of a Chairman: At every meeting other than the
Annual Meeting the first business shall be to appoint a Chairman if the
Chairman and Vice Chairman be absent.
5.
Chairman
– Exercise of Duties: The person presiding at a meeting
may exercise all the powers and duties of the Chairman in relation to the
conduct of the meeting.
6.
Frequency
of Meetings: The Council shall meet
monthly. An August meeting
will be at the discretion of the Chairman. Meetings shall be held on the
first Monday of the month unless the Council otherwise decides at a
previous meeting.
7.
Quorum: Five members shall constitute a
quorum.
8.
If
a quorum is not present when the Council meets or if during a meeting the
number of councillors present falls below the quorum, the business not
transacted at that meeting shall be transacted at the next meeting or on
such other day as the Chairman may fix.
9.
Appointment
of Standing Committees: The Council may at the Annual
Meeting appoint standing committees and may at any other time appoint such
other committees as are necessary.
10.
Admittance
of the Public and Press to Meetings: The public and press shall be
admitted to all meetings of the Council, its committees and
sub-committees, which may temporarily exclude the public or the press or
both if it is in the public interest so to do.
11.
Matters
raised by the Public: Prior to the opening of council
meetings, the public shall be invited to ask questions for
discussion. Such questions,
unless subsumed under Matters Raised by the Chairman, shall not be voted
upon or form part of the agenda of that meeting.
12.
Order
of Business: The order of business unless the
Council otherwise decides shall be as follows:
a.
To read and consider the Minutes of the
previous meeting, and approve the signature of those Minutes by the Chairman as
a true record of that meeting.
b.
To
deal with business expressly required by statute to be
done.
13.
District
& County Councillor’s Report: There must be Agenda items to
allow for a report from both District & County
Councillors.
14.
Voting: With the exception of planning
applications, members shall vote by show of hands, or, if at least two
members so request, by signed ballot.
15.
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 or
abstained.
16.
The
Chairman may give an original vote on any matter put to the vote, and in
the case of an equality of votes may give a casting vote even though he
gave no original vote.
17.
The
person presiding must give a casting vote whenever there is an equality of
votes in the election for Chairman.
18.
Decisions
taken on planning applications at Council meetings, may be by signed
ballot at the discretion of the Chairman. The decision for or against the
application shall be as worded on the
application.
19. Code of Members’
Conduct: The Revised Code of
Conduct was adopted by the Parish Council of Tedburn St Mary on the
4th June 2007. All
councillors must sign the undertaking to observe the Code of Members’
Conduct, which includes:
a.
The need for
Councillors to disclose “Personal Interests”.
b.
All Councillors
to register their financial and other interests, and are required to
notify the Monitoring Officer, Mr S Barnes, Solicitor to Teignbridge
District Council, in writing, of any changes to those interests within 28
days of becoming aware of any changes.
c.
All Councillors
must, within 28 days of receiving any gift or hospitality over the value
of £25, provide the Monitoring Officer with written notification of the
existence and nature of that gift or
hospitality.
20.
Authorisation
of Payments: Orders for the payment of money
shall be authorised by resolution of the Council and signed by two
members.
21.
Substantial
Items of Expenditure: Any proposal for a substantial
item of expenditure must be covered by a published agenda item. If mentioned for the first time at
a meeting where it was not a separate agenda item, the proposal will be
placed on the agenda for the next monthly meeting in order to allow time
for its proper preparation and serve as notice to Councillors of its
imminence.
22.
Specifications
for Major Works: Before approving any proposed
building or contract scheme involving substantial sums of public money, an
appropriately qualified person shall be appointed to act on behalf of the
Parish Council in writing a specification, and subsequently to monitor
such works as may be approved.
23.
Financial
Regulations: The attached regulations should be
read in conjunction with items 20, 21 &
22.
24.
Sealing
of Documents: Any two members of the Council may
seal, on behalf of the Council, any document required by law to be issued
under seal.
25.
Public
Availability of Minutes: All Minutes kept by the Council
and by any committee shall be open for the inspection of any member of the
Council and any elector during reasonable hours of the day.
26.
Walking
of Footpaths & Bridleways: All footpaths and bridleways under
the control of the Parish Council must be walked at least once a
year.
27.
Termination
of Meetings:
Council meetings shall normally be terminated by 10.30pm.
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