Public Participation at Council Meetings – Advice!

Meetings of Draycott in the Moors Parish Council take place on the second Monday of every month except August. They usually start at 7pm at Draycott Church Hall (in Church Lane).   Everybody welcome!

The agenda for every meeting is posted up on each of the district’s three notice-boards, about a week before the date of each meeting.

A Parish Council meeting is open to the public to attend, but is not a public meeting. This means that the meeting is held for the Council to conduct its business, in an atmosphere conducive to working, though the public are permitted to attend to watch and listen to proceedings.
At only one point – the public participation segment – can the public speak freely.

Public participation 

Members of the public can ask one question only per person (on any topic) during ‘Public Participation‘ time.  This lasts for 15 minutes, and is usually the first item on the agenda at every meeting, so please make sure you get to the meeting at its beginning if you wnat to ask a question. Public questions cannot be taken after that point.
If you suddenly think of something during the course of the meeting, then questions on the topics which are being debated may be accepted – but only at the discretion of the chair.

Procedure for A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC to speak or raise issues at Council meetings

If at all possible or feasible, contact the Clerk, prior to the meeting, to say you wish to speak or raise an issue at the next  Council meeting. This is because, if there is information the Clerk can bring along to the meeting or research before the meeting which may help with the query or help the Councillors, the Clerk may be able to do this.

If you wish to raise an issue at a meeting.:

• Although it is not compulsory, try to speak to the Clerk or Chairperson prior to the meeting to say you wish to speak or raise an issue in the public section, especially if it is regarding a specific agenda item.
  (If more than one member of the public wishes to speak on the same subject then it would help if a spokesperson was appointed.)
• When the meeting gets to ‘public participation’, the Chairman will ‘suspend’ the normal rules of the meeting and members of the public will be allowed to speak.
  At this point Councillors should not interrupt or debate issues with the public, but sometimes, if it is counter-productive not to, they may respond – but long discussions should not really take place between the public and the Council during this ‘public’ section.
• When all the members of the public have spoken in the public participation section, the Chairman will resume the normal meeting.
• At this point the Council may discuss the item(s) raised by the public, and consider: a) if it is a matter the Parish Council can legally consider and make any decisions on; b) if it is a matter which can be referred by the Clerk to another authority, or; c) if it is an item which will need a Parish Council decision or expenditure, and so would need to go onto a future agenda. The item will then be referred to a future agenda.
  No legal decisions or expenditure can immediately be made on any item raised at a meeting (by public or Councillor) because the item would not have been legally notified on an agenda in advance to the electorate or the Council.

Get your topic urgently onto the agenda

However if you want something discussed urgently by councillors at the next parish council meeting then please email the Clerk  at least 10 days before the meeting with your request/question and it can then be included on the agenda under ‘Correspondence’.
You do not have to attend the meeting to have your item on the agenda.

Though you will not usually be allowed to speak during councillors’ debates of a correspondence item (unless the chairperson has agreed), you may present the item earlier in the meeting in the ‘public participation’ if you want.