Asking a
question at Council
Members of the public may ask questions of members of the
Cabinet and Chairmen of the Council’s committees and other
standing bodies at ordinary meetings of the Council.
Notice of
questions
A
question may only be asked if notice has been given by delivering
it in writing or by electronic mail to the Chief Executive no later
than noon, 7 clear working days before the day of the meeting. A
clear working day is any day Monday to Friday (excluding bank
holidays) and not including the day of receipt and the day of the
meeting. Each question must give the name and address of the
questioner and must name the member of the Council to whom it is to
be put.
Number of
questions
At
any one meeting no person may submit more than 2 questions and no
more than 2 such questions may be asked on behalf of one
organisation. A maximum of 4 questions in any local government year
may be submitted by any person or on behalf of an organisation or
business.
Scope of
questions
The
Chief Executive in consultation with the Chairman of the Council
may reject a question if it:
·
is not about a matter for which the local authority
has a responsibility or which affects the district;
·
is defamatory, frivolous or offensive;
·
Is substantially the same as a question which has
been put at a meeting of the Council in the past six
months;
·
Requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt
information;
·
Relates to judicial/quasi-judicial items, planning
and licensing applications or
appeals,
·
Names Officers or Members by name, and/or alleged
breaches of the Members’ Code of
Conduct which are subject to or may be subject to investigation; or
·
Relates to an ongoing complaint to the Council,
either at Stage 1 or 2, or a complaint that is currently subject to
investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman or a complaint
which has been concluded either at Stage 1 or 2 or via the Local
Government Ombudsman.
·
is substantially the same as a question which has
been put at a meeting of the Council in the past six months;
or
·
requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt
information
Order of
questions
Questions will be asked in the order determined by the Chief
Executive acting in
conjunction with the Monitoring Officer. The Chairman may
group together similar questions. Not question or answer may
exceed 5 minutes without the permission of the Chairman and the
totality of questions and answers may not extend beyond 15 minutes
without the consent of the Chairman of Council.
Asking the
question at the meeting
The
Chairman will invite the questioner to put the question to the
member named in the notice. If a questioner who has submitted a
written question is unable to be present, he/she may ask the
Chairman to put the question on his/her behalf.
The
Chairman may ask the question on the questioner’s behalf,
indicate that a written reply will given or decide, in the absence of the questioner,
that the question will not be dealt with.
Written
answers
Any
question which cannot be dealt with during public question time,
either because of lack of time or because of the non-attendance of
the member to whom it was to be put, will be dealt with by a
written answer. A copy of the written answer will be provided to
all members