5. Proper Officer
Where a statute, regulation or order confers function or duties on the proper officer
Of the Council in the following cases, he/she shall be the clerk or nominated officer:
To receive declarations of acceptance of office.
To receive and record notices disclosing interests at meetings.
To receive and retain plans and documents.
To sign notices or other documents on behalf of the Council.
To receive copies of bylaws made by another local authority.
To certify copies of any bylaws made by the Council.
To sign and issue the summons to attend meetings of the Council.
To keep proper records for all Council meetings. |
6. Quorum of the Council.
A Quorum shall consist of 4 members of the Council. |
7. If a quorum is not present, or 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. |
8. For a quorum relating to a committee or sub-committee, please refer to Standing Order 31. |
9. Voting.
Members shall vote by show of hands or, if at least two members so request, by signed ballot. |
10. If a member so demands a recorded vote shall be taken, the Clerk recording who voted for and against the question for which it is demanded. Such a request must be made before moving on to the next business. |
11. a) Subject to (b) and (c) below 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, whether or not he/she 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/she may not give an original vote in an election for Chairman.
Voting
c) The person presiding must give a casting vote whenever there is an equality of votes in an election for Chairman. |
12. Order of Business.
At each Annual Parish Council Meeting the first business shall be :-
a) To elect a Chairman of the Council
b) To receive the Chairman’s declaration of acceptance of office or, if not then received, to decide when it shall be received.
c) In the ordinary year of election of the Council to fill any vacancies left unfilled at the election by reason of insufficient nominations.
d) To decide when any declarations of acceptance of office, which have not been received by law, shall be received.
e) To elect a Vice Chairman of the Council
f) To appoint representatives to outside bodies.
g) To appoint committees and sub-committees.
h) To inspect any deeds and trust investments in the custody of the Council; and shall thereafter follow the order set out in Standing Order 14 |
| 13. At every meeting other than the Annual Parish Council Meeting the first business of the meeting shall be to appoint a Chairman if the Chairman and Vice Chairman be absent and to receive such declarations of acceptance of office (if any) and undertaking to observe the Council’s code of conduct as are required by law to be made or, if not then received, to decide when they shall be received. |
14. In every year, not later than the meeting at which estimates for the next year are settled, the
Council shall review the pay and conditions of existing employees. Standing Order 18 must be read in conjunction with this requirement. |
15. After the first business has been completed the order of business, unless the Council decides otherwise on the ground of urgency, shall be as follows :-
a) To read and consider the minutes; provide that if a copy has been circulated to each member not later than the day of issue of the summons to attend the meeting, the Minutes may be taken as read.
barter consideration to approve the signature of the Minutes by the person presiding as a correct record.
c) To deal with business expressly required by statute to be done.
d) To dispose of business, if any, remaining from the last meeting.
e) To receive such communications as the person presiding may wish to lay before the Council.
f) To receive and consider reports and minutes of committees. |
16. Disorderly Conduct
a) All members must observe the Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 7th August 2007, a copy of which is annexed to these Standing Orders.
b) No member shall at a meeting persistently disregard the ruling of the Chairman, wilfully obstruct business, or behave irregularly, offensively, improperly or in such a manner as to bring the Council into disrepute.
c) 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 for England. |
17. Voting on Appointments.
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 vote is given in favour of one person. |
18. Discussions and resolutions affecting employees of the Council
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 shall be excluded. (See Standing Order No 38 ) |
19. Expenditure.
a) Orders for the payment of money shall be authorised by resolution of the Council and signed by two members |
20. Accounts & Financial Statement
a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this Standing Order or by statute, all accounts for payment and claims upon the Council shall be laid before the Council.
b) Where it is necessary to make a payment before it has been authorised by the Council, such payment shall be certified as to its correctness and urgency
by the appropriate officer. Such payment shall be authorised by the proper officer for payment with the approval of the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Council.
c) All payments ratified under paragraph (b) of this Standing Order shall be separately included in the next schedule of payments before the Council. |
21. Internal Audit.
The Chairman will carry out an internal audit in February and August each year, to ensure that cash collected by the Clerk is being banked promptly, that receipts agree with amounts banked, and that all documentation and the day book agree and are being kept up to date. |
| 22. The Independent Internal Audit will be carried out prior to the books being made available for inspection before the Annual return is completed and sent to the external auditor, by whosoever has currently been appointed by the Council to carry out this audit. |
| 23. The Responsible Financial Officer shall supply to 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 to the appropriate accounting basis, 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. |
24. Sealing of Documents.
a) A document shall not be sealed on behalf of the Council unless its sealing has been authorised by a resolution.
b) Any two members of the Council named in a resolution moved under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this Order may seal, on behalf of the Council, any document required by law to be issued under seal. |
25. Committees & Sub Committees
The Council may, at its Annual Meeting, appoint standing committees and may at any other time appoint such other committees as are necessary, but subject to any statutory provision in that behalf :
a) Shall not appoint any member of a committee so as to hold office later than the next Annual meeting.
b) May appoint persons other than members of the Council to any Committee |
| 26. The Chairman and Vice Chairman, ex officio, shall be voting members of every committee. |
| 27. Every committee shall at its first meeting, before proceeding to any other business, elect a Chairman and may elect a Vice Chairman who shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting of the Council, and shall settle its programme of meetings for the year. |
28. Special Meeting
The Chairman of a committee or the Chairman of the Council may summon an additional meeting of that committee at any time. An additional 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 |
29. Sub Committees
Every committee may appoint sub-committees for purposes to be specified by the committee. |
| 30. The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the committee shall be members of every sub-committee appointed by it unless they signify that they do not wish to serve. |
| 31. Except where ordered by the Council in the case of a committee, or by the Council or by the appropriate committee in the case of a sub-committee, the Quorum of a committee or sub-committee shall be one-half of its members. |
| 32. Members of committees and sub-committees entitled to vote shall vote by show of hands, or, if at least two members so request, by signed ballot. |
| 33. Chairmen of committees and sub-committees shall, in the case of an equality of votes, have a second or casting vote. |
34. Interests.
If a member has a personal interest as defined by the Code of Conduct, adopted by the Council on 7th August 2007, then he shall declare such interest as soon as it becomes apparent, disclosing the existence and nature of that interest as required. |
| 35. If a member who has declared a personal interest then considers the interest to be prejudicial he must withdraw from the room or chamber during consideration of the item to which the interest relates. |
| 36. The Clerk may be required to compile and hold a register of members’ interests in accordance with agreement reached with the Monitoring Officer of the Responsible Authority and as required by statute. |
37. Inspection of Documents
All minutes kept by the Council, and by any committee, shall be open for the inspection of any member of the Council. |
38. Admission of the Public and Press to Meetings
The public and press shall be admitted to all meetings of the Council (and its committees, which may however, temporarily exclude the public and press by means of the following resolution :- ‘That in the view of the special or confidential nature of the business about to be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the public and press be temporarily excluded and they are instructed to withdraw.’
The Council shall state the special reason for exclusion. |
39. Annual Reviews
At the Annual Parish Council Meeting all rents, fees, charges, salaries and minimum amounts for tenders must be reviewed, together with insurance cover and appraisal of the Clerk’s performance and workload. |
40. The Clerk is authorised to take the following actions on behalf of the Council to enable the day to day running of the Council’s affairs.
a) The Cemetery
i. Issue grants of exclusive rights of burial.
ii. Decide positions of graves.
iii. Authorise erection of memorials and the wording on such memorials
iv. Any other day to day decisions.
b) General Correspondence & Inquiries
To respond to any matters which do not require consideration by the Council. |
| 41. Executive powers are delegated to the Clerk of the Council following consultation with the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Council for any matter which requires a decision before the next ordinary meeting of the Council. |
| 42. All disciplinary matters relating to the conduct and performance of the Clerk shall be decided by a special meeting of the full Council. |
43. Code of Conduct on Complaints
The Council shall deal with complaints of maladministration committed by the Council or by any officer or member in such a manner as adopted by the Council except for those complaints which should be properly directed to the Standards Board for consideration |
44. Standing Orders to be given to members.
A copy of these Standing orders shall be given to each member by the Clerk upon delivery to him/her of the member’s declaration of acceptance of office and written undertaking to observe the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council. |
| Adopted by the Council on 1st April 2008 (Min 201/5) and operative from that date |
