Council Meeting Rules
This content is intended as a precis of elements of the Constitution relating to the make up of the Council, Committees, etc. It also lists (i) the standard items of business, (ii) the order of those items of business, and (ii) the Motions that can be moved without notice, at a meeting. In some places the Constitution will refer to this content to identify which item of business/Motion/etc a particular meeting can consider/deal with. If there is any conflict between the wording of the Constitution and the contents of this content, the Constitution will prevail.
References to [A], [B], [C], etc, are to the notes at the bottom of the content.
Council
| Constitution of Body | |
|---|---|
| Where to look for terms of reference, powers, etc | Part 4 |
| Membership [A] - number of Councillors appointed as Members of Body | 43 (all) |
| Substitutes appointed? | N/A |
| Members appointed by? | Election |
| Quorum | 11 |
| Councillor Membership politically balanced? | N/A |
| Number of other Members (see notes below and Constitution for who, how appointed, etc) | None |
| Standard Items of Business at Meeting (order cannot be varied) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual meeting | Budget meeting | Ordinary meeting | Extraordinary meeting | ||
Elect a Member to preside if Chairman/Vice-Chairman of Body not present | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Receive apologies for inability to attend the meeting | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Chairman's remarks | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Elect Chairman of Body (annually at Annual Meeting unless vacancy) | |||||
| [B] | No | No | No | ||
Elect Vice-Chairman of Body (annually at Annual Meeting unless vacancy) | |||||
| Yes | No | No | No | ||
Approve Minutes of previous meeting(s) | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||
Receive Declarations of Interest | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Elect Leader of Council (four-yearly at First Annual Meeting after elections unless vacancy) | |||||
| [B] | No | No | No | ||
Receive Leader's notification of number and membership of Executive (annually at Annual Meeting, unless change) | |||||
| Yes | No | No | No | ||
Receive announcements from Chairman/Leader/Executive/Head of Paid Service | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| Standard Items of Business (where relevant) at Meeting (order can be varied by Chairman or on Motion) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual meeting | Budget meeting | Ordinary meeting | Extraordinary meeting | ||
Receive Petitions | |||||
| No | No | Yes | No | ||
Respond to public written questions | |||||
| No | No | Yes | No | ||
Decide on Committees, size, terms of reference, allocation of seats, etc | |||||
| Yes | No | No | No | ||
Appoint Councillors to Committees | |||||
| Yes | No | Yes | No | ||
Appoint Councillors to Outside Bodies (if not delegated, eg to Leader) | |||||
| Yes | No | Yes | No | ||
Agree any amendments to Constitution | |||||
| Yes | No | Yes | No | ||
Respond to Petitions previously received | |||||
| No | No | Yes | No | ||
Consider Reports and Proposals from Executive/Scrutiny Commission/Officers | |||||
| No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
Deal with matters referred from Council/Scrutiny Commission | |||||
| No | No | No | No | ||
Receive Reports on joint arrangements/external organisations and receive questions/provide answers on such | |||||
| No | No | Yes | No | ||
Consider Motions submitted by Members | |||||
| No | [C] | Yes | No | ||
Respond to Councillors' written questions | |||||
| No | No | Yes | No | ||
Consider Called In item | |||||
| No | No | No | No | ||
Consider business/any other business specified in the Agenda | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Procedural Motions that may be moved without notice | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual meeting | Budget meeting | Ordinary meeting | Extraordinary meeting | ||
Appoint a Chairman for meeting if Chairman/Vice-Chairman absent | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Accuracy of Minutes | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Closure or adjournment of the meeting | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Order of or next business | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Refer any matter to Council/Executive/Committee/Statutory Officer | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Establish a Committee and appoint members if such if arises from an Agenda item | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Establish a Task Group and appoint members if such if arises from an Agenda item | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Establish a Sub-Committee and appoint members if such if arises from an Agenda item | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Withdraw a Motion or amendment with leave of the Chairman | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Amend a Motion as permitted | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Amend the time limit for speeches (if any) | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Allow member of the public to speak in accordance with Rules | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Allow continuation of meeting past 22:00 | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Suspend a Rule of Procedure where permitted | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Exclude the press and public in accordance with the statutory provisions | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
A Member named for disorderly conduct not to be further heard/leave the meeting | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
A Closure Motion | |||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
A Each Councillors' terms of office starts on the fourth day after being elected and finishes (except for the Chairman of Council and Leader of Council - see [B]) on the fourth day after the date of the next all council elections.
B The Chairman of Council and Leader of Council continue as Councillors (and thus in post) until the agenda items for election of Chairman and Leader at the first Annual Meeting of Council after all council elections.
C Only Motions relating to Revenue and Expenditure may be considered at the Budget Meeting of Council.
Share this page
