Parish Council Meetings

Parish council meetings

Mickleton Parish Council usually meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm, in King George’s Village Hall. There is usually a break in the summer and at Christmas. Dates are set each May at the annual meeting of the parish council.

Agendas and minutes are posted on this website and the parish council noticeboards. If you would like to discuss issues on the agenda, please come to one of our meetings. If you have any queries please contact the clerk or one of your councillors.

Agendas

The agenda sets out the business of each meeting. This ensures that councillors and the public know what issues will be discussed and voted on. A council cannot lawfully make decisions on anything that is not on the agenda.

The clerk posts the agenda on the website and noticeboards at least three clear days before an ordinary meeting.

Attendance at meetings

In order for meetings to be quorate, one third of council members, or three, whichever is greater, must be present. A councillor is disqualified if she/he does not attend a meeting for six consecutive months and his/her long-term absence has not been agreed upon by a full parish council meeting.

Attendance and apologies, with reasons for absence accepted or refused, must be recorded.
If a councillor is late or leaves early, a record must be made as this could affect quorum, etc.

Parish council meetings must be open to the public and press. However, they may be excluded for part of the meeting if the council resolves that publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest, or for other special reasons stated in the resolution.

Decision-making

All matters coming before a council must be decided upon by a majority of councillors present and voting. Councillors are there to consider the information gathered and make a group decision on all matters. No individual councillor is responsible for any single decision.

• Each resolution must be either approved, rejected or actioned.
• Each councillor has one vote and must vote in person.
• Councillors who have been disqualified by declaring a prejudicial interest will not vote.
• In addition, the chair has the casting vote if it is required.

Public Time

The public are asked to respect the fact that this is a meeting to conduct council business and interruptions during council business are not permitted. Members of the public must not take part unless invited to speak by the chairman.

A council meeting is not a public meeting but a meeting conducted in public.

There is no requirement in law to provide a public forum, but this council welcomes the opportunity to offer this facility to discuss items on the agenda.

Mickleton Parish Council meets and makes its decisions in public and is committed to community engagement. We therefore invite members of the public, the police and county and district councillors to attend meetings and contribute within the public forum. Those attending council meetings can stay for as long as they want.

There may be occasions when the public are excluded due to the confidential nature of discussions.

Note: The council is only allowed to take decisions committing the council on topics that are publicised on the agenda.

Issues raised which are not matters on the agenda will be only addressed at the meeting if the matter is straightforward in nature and capable of being answered by the chairman or clerk. Otherwise, the matter will be noted and carried forward.

A maximum of five minutes is permitted for a member of the public to speak and only one person may speak on any agenda item. If several people want to speak on the same item, try to get together in advance to choose the best person to speak for you all. Two people may speak if opposing views are being expressed, i.e. one for and one against a particular matter. This ensures that as many of the public as possible have an opportunity to speak.

Please note:

• Supplementary comments or questions are solely at the discretion of the chairman.
• No question may be repeated within a six-month period.
• The chairman has the right to say that any question or statement is inappropriate and will not be answered.

Matters carried forward

Issues or questions raised on the day of the parish council meeting that are not addressed at the meeting may be:

• formally referred to the relevant representatives/working group.
• placed on the agenda for consideration and debated at the next parish council meeting.
• responded to by the clerk after the meeting.
• simply noted.

Minutes

Concise minutes must be kept of all proceedings of a council meeting. The agenda and the minutes must tally up. The pages must be numbered and after they have been approved, signed by the chairman. Minutes are only legal evidence after they have been signed

A brief record of topics raised by members of the public will be included within the minutes at the meeting. Please note that members of the public do not have the right to force items onto the council agenda or insist how matters are recorded in the minutes.