Parish Council Meetings Information

Meetings

The Parish Council meets bi-monthly, generally on the first Monday of the months of May, July, September, November, January and March. This is known as the Municipal Year. Meetings are held in Hankelow Methodist Church and commence at 7.30 pm. The Parish Council recently adopted Standing Orders which are a set of rules to govern Parish Council proceedings. Agenda item 4 is Public Question Time and residents are able to ask a question or make a statement. A total period of 10 minutes is allowed, but the Chairperson has discretion to extend this period if they consider it appropriate.

Agendas

Agendas are issued, generally, five clear days before the meeting. They are issued to all parish councillors and to residents who have provided their e-mail addresses for this purpose. The agenda is also published on the website and displayed in the notice-board. The legal requirement for notification of meetings of the Parish Council is to give 3 clear days' NOTICE (which does not include the day of the meeting; the day of posting; Sundays or bank holidays). The Notice is NOT the agenda, although it is general practice these days to publish the whole agenda in the notice-board. The notice must state the date, time and place of the meeting. It does not need to specify the business. A calendar of meetings for the whole year meets the criterion of 'publication'. Therefore, even if an agenda were not to be displayed on the notice-board, the meeting would still be legally constituted and cannot be declared as illegal through 'want of notice'. The business must be specified on an agenda and for this reason, there is no such item as 'Any Other Business' as this conceals business rather than specifying it; however, there is a 'shared items' slot so that councillors can exchange information or suggest items for the next agenda.

Minutes of Meetings

Why are the minutes always water-marked 'DRAFT'?

The minutes are draft until approved by the Parish Council at the next meeting. A paper copy is signed at that meeting by the Chairman (or whichever councillor is presiding) and filed in the official Minute Book. Any amendments are recorded in the minutes of the meeting at which they are approved. They are not re-typed or hand-amended at the meeting. The only set of minutes which is not draft is the official signed set.

When are the minutes published?

There is no legal requirement, but best practice recommends that minutes of meetings should be published on the website within a month of the meeting.

Copies of Agendas at Meetings

Members of the public are encouraged to print off their own copies of the agenda from the website but a few spares will be provided at the meeting. These will be copies of the agenda only and not the accompanying reports.