1. Meetings
a) Meetings of the Council shall be held at 7.00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the Council Office, Walters Crescent, Mumbles, Swansea unless the Council otherwise decides at a previous meeting.
b) Smoking is not permitted at any meeting of the Council.
2. The Statutory Annual Meeting shall be held:-
a) In an election year the Annual Council Meeting shall be held on or within 14 days following the day on which the councillors elected take office and
b) In a year which is not an election year the Annual Council Meeting shall be held on such day in May as the Council may direct.
c) (i) Nomination of Councillors for election to the office of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council must be made in writing to the Clerk of the Council not less than fourteen working days before the date of the Annual Meeting and shall be endorsed with the consent of the candidate standing for election. No other method of nomination will be possible.
(ii) Proposals for consideration by the Annual Meeting must be made in writing to the Clerk of the Council no less than fourteen working days before the date of the Annual Meeting and must be signed by both the proposer and seconder.
(iii) The names of those nominated for election to the office of Chairman and Vice Chairman together with, if any, the full proposals intended to be considered at the Annual Meeting must form part of the Agenda for the Annual Meeting.
3. Chairman of the Meeting
The person presiding at a meeting may exercise all the powers and duties of the Chairman in relation to the conduct of the meeting.
4. Proper Officer
When 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 sign and issue the summons to attend meetings of the Council.
To keep proper records of all Council meetings.
5. Quorum of the Council
Three members or one-third of the total membership, whichever is the greater, shall constitute a quorum at meetings of the Council.
6. If a quorum is not present or if during a meeting the number of councillors present (not counting those debarred for 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 Council may fix.
7. Except where ordered by the Council in the case of a committee or by the Council or appropriate committee in the case of a sub-committee, the quorum of a committee or sub-committee shall be one half of its members.
8. Voting
Members shall vote by show of hands or, if at least two members so request, by signed ballot.
9. If a member so requires, the Clerk shall record the names of the members who voted on any question so as to show whether they voted for or against it. Such a request must be made before moving on to the next business.
10. (1) Subject to (2) and (3) below the Chairman may give an original vote on any matter put to the vote, and in any case of an equality of votes may give a casting vote whether or not he/she gave an original vote.
(2) 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.
(3) The person presiding must give a casting vote whenever there is an equality of votes in an election for Chairman.
11. Order of Business
At each Annual 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 as provided 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 thereafter follow the order set out in the Standing Order 14
12. At every meeting other than the Annual Council Meeting the first business 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.
13. In every year, not later than the meeting at which the estimates for next year are settled, the Council shall review the pay and conditions of service of existing employees. Standing Order 34 must be read in conjunction with this requirement.
14. After the first business has been completed, the order of business, unless the Council otherwise decides on the ground of urgency, shall be as follows:-
a) To read and consider the Minutes; provided 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.
b) After 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 communications.
f) To answer questions from Councillors.
g) To receive and consider reports and minutes and consider resolutions or recommendations of committees.
h) If necessary, to authorise the sealing of documents.
i) To authorise the signing of orders for payment.
15. Urgent Business
A motion to vary the order of business on the ground of urgency:
a) May be proposed by the Chairman or by any member duly seconded and, if proposed by the Chairman, may be put to the vote without being seconded, and
b) Shall be put to the vote without discussion.
16. Resolutions Moved On Notice
Except as provided by these Standing Orders, no resolution may be moved unless the business to which it relates has been put on the Agenda by the Clerk or the mover has given notice in writing of its terms and has delivered the notice to the Clerk at least 3 clear days before the next meeting of the Council.
17. The Clerk shall insert in the summons for every meeting all notices of motion or recommendation properly given.
18. If a resolution or recommendation specified in the summons is not moved either by the member who gave notice of it or by any other member, it shall, unless postponed by the Council, be treated as withdrawn and shall not be moved without fresh notice.
19. If the subject matter of a resolution comes within the province of a committee of the Council, it shall, upon being moved and seconded, stand referred without discussion to such committee or to such committee as the Council may determine for report; provided that the Chairman, if he/she considers it to be a matter of urgency, may allow it to be dealt with at the meeting at which it was moved.
20. Every resolution or recommendation shall be relevant to some subject over which the Council has power or duties, which affects its area.
21. Resolutions Moved Without Notice
Resolutions dealing with the following matters may be moved without notice:-
a) To appoint a Chairman of the meeting.
b) To correct the Minutes.
c) To approve the Minutes.
d) To alter the order of business.
e) To proceed to the next business.
f) To close or adjourn the debate.
g) To refer a matter to a committee.
h) To appoint a committee or any members thereof.
i) To adopt a report.
j) To authorise the sealing of documents.
k) To amend a motion.
l) To give leave to withdraw a resolution or amendment.
m) To exclude the press and public. (See Order 60 below.)
n) To silence or eject from the meeting a member named for misconduct. (See
Order 29 below.)
o) To give consent of the Council where such consent is required by these Standing Orders.
p) To suspend any Standing Order. (See order 70 below.)
q) To adjourn the meeting.
22. Questions
a) A member may ask the Chairman of the Council, the Chairman of a Standing Committee or the Clerk any question concerning the business of the Council.
b) Save that Councillors who are unable to attend Standing Committee Meetings of which they are members are precluded at the following Council Meeting from asking the Committee Chairman questions relating to the minutes of the said meeting.
23. No questions not connected with business under discussion shall be asked except during the part of the meeting set aside for questions.
24. Rules of Debate
No discussion of the Minutes shall take place except under their accuracy. Corrections to the Minutes shall be made by resolution and must be initialled by the Chairman.
25. a) A resolution or amendment shall not be discussed unless it has been proposed and seconded, and, unless proper notice has already been given, it shall, if required by the Chairman, be reduced to writing and handed to him/her before it is further discussed or put to the meeting.
b) A member when seconding a resolution or amendment may, if he/she then declares his intention to do so, reserve his speech until a later period of the debate.
c) A member shall direct his/her speech to the question under discussion or to a personal explanation or to a question of order.
d) An amendment shall be either:-
i) To leave out words
ii) To leave out words and insert others
iii) To insert or add words
e) An amendment shall not have the effect of negating the resolution before the Council
f) If an amendment be carried, the resolution, as amended, shall take the place of the original resolution and shall become the resolution upon which any further amendment may be moved.
g) A further amendment shall not be moved until the Council has disposed of every amendment previously moved.
h) The mover of a resolution or of an amendment shall have a right of reply.
i) A member, other than the mover of a resolution, shall not, without leave of the Council, speak more than once on any resolution except to move an amendment or further amendment, or on an amendment, or on a point of order, or in personal explanation, or to move a closure.
j) A member may speak on a point of order or a personal explanation. A member speaking for these purposes shall be heard forthwith. A personal explanation shall be confined to some material part of a former speech by him/her which may have been misunderstood..
k) A motion or amendment may with withdrawn by the proposer with the consent of the Council, which shall be signified without discussion, and no member may speak upon it after permission has been asked for its withdrawal unless such permission has been refused.
l) When a resolution is under debate, no other resolution shall be moved except the following:
i. To amend the resolution.
ii. To proceed to the next business.
iii. To adjourn the debate.
iv. That the question be now put.
v. That a member named be not further heard.
vi. That a member named leave the meeting.
vii. That the resolution be referred to a committee.
viii. To exclude the public and press.
ix. To adjourn the meeting.
26. A member may remain seated when speaking.
27. a) The Ruling of the Chairman on a point of order or on the admissibility of a personal explanation shall not be discussed.
b) Members shall address the Chairman. If two or more members wish to speak, the Chairman shall decide who to call upon.
c) Whenever the Chairman speaks during a debate, all other members shall be silent.
28. Closure
At the end of any speech a member may, without comment, move “that the question be now put”, “that the debate be now adjourned” or “that the Council do now adjourn”. If such motion is seconded, the Chairman shall put the motion but, in the case of a motion “that the question now be put”, only if he/she is of the opinion that the question before the Council has been sufficiently debated. If the motion “that the question be now put” is carried, he/she shall call upon the mover to exercise or waive his/her right of reply and shall put the question after that right has been exercised or waived. The adjournment of a debate or of the Council shall not prejudice the mover’s right of reply at the resumption.
29. Disorderly Conduct
a) All members must observe the Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on the 11th day of December 2001 and any amendments to the Code as may from time to time be adopted by the Council, 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, in the opinion of the Chairman, a member has broken the provisions of paragraph (b) of this Order, the Chairman shall express that opinion to the Council and thereafter any member may move that the member named be no longer heard or that the member named do leave the meeting, and the motion, if seconded, shall be put forthwith and without discussion. 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 Local Commissioner.
d) If either of the motions mentioned in paragraph (c) is disobeyed, the Chairman may adjourn the meeting or take such further steps as may reasonably be necessary to enforce them.
30. Right of Reply
The mover of a resolution shall have a right to reply immediately before the resolution is put to the vote. If an amendment is proposed, the mover of the amendment shall be entitled to reply immediately before the amendment is put to the vote. A member exercising a right of reply shall not introduce a new matter. After the right of reply has been exercised or waived, a vote shall be taken without further discussion.
31. Alteration of Resolution
A member may, with the consent of his/her seconder, move amendments to his/her own resolution.
32. Rescission of Previous Resolution
a) A decision (whether affirmative or negative) of the Council shall not be reversed within six months except either by a special resolution, the written notice whereof bears the names of at least 2 members of the council, or by a resolution moved in pursuance of the report or recommendation of a committee.
b) When a special resolution or any other resolution moved under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this Order has been disposed of, no similar resolution may be moved within a further six months.
33. Voting on Appointments
a) 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 of votes is given in favour of one person.
b) Applicants for co-option to the Council should be interviewed by the Policy Committee.
A recommendation as to its preference be given to full Council and a final decision made: all Councillors to have copies of the applicants’ CVs prior to the meeting at which the appointment is to be made.
34. 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, the employee shall be asked to leave the meeting and 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. 60.)
35. Resolutions on Expenditure
Any resolution (which is moved otherwise than in pursuance of a recommendation of the Finance and General Purposes Committee or of another committee after recommendation by the Finance and General Purposes Committee) and which, if carried, would, in the opinion of the Chairman, substantially increase the expenditure upon any service which is under the management of the Council or reduce the revenue at the disposal of any committee, or which would involve capital expenditure, shall, when proposed and seconded, stand adjourned without discussion to the next ordinary meeting of the Council, and any committee affected by it shall consider whether it desires to report thereon (and the Finance and General Purposes Committee shall report on the financial aspect of the matters).
36. Expenditure
Orders for the payment of money shall be authorised by resolution of the Council and signed by two members.
37. 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) The Council’s Common seal shall alone be used for sealing documents. It shall be applied by the proper officer in the presence of two members who shall sign the document as witnesses.
38. Committees and 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; who shall have no voting rights; and
c) May subject to the provisions of Standing Order 32 above at any time dissolve or alter the membership of committee save for the Policy Committee.
d) There shall be the following Standing Committees of the Council:-
(i) Policy; Personnel; Honours.
The membership of these committees shall be the Council Chairman or in his/her absence the Vice Chairman and the Chairman in his/her absence the Vice Chairman of every Council Standing Committee and the Council Vice Chairman as an observer. All other Councillors or members of the public shall be excluded.
The Policy Committee will form an Emergency Group who will act should a major incident occur in the community. The group would take what action was deemed necessary to assist the emergency services.
(ii) Finance and General Purposes; Highways; Development; I.T. and Publications; Community Planning; Planning.
(iii) Councillors wishing to serve on Council committees should indicate their preference in order of preference and in writing to the clerk of the Council not less than fourteen working days before the Annual Meeting. There shall be no limit upon the number of committees on which a Councillor may serve but they should serve on two committees and, if possible, three. Between Annual Meetings Councillors can be appointed to committees informally, such appointments to be confirmed by the Council. Each Standing Committee, save for Honours Committee and Personnel Committee, shall have a minimum of six members.
(iv) The Council Policy Committee shall meet not less than ten working days before the date of the Annual Meeting to consider:-
The amount of business to be transacted at the Annual Meeting. If it concludes that following the Annual Meeting there would be insufficient time to hold on the same evening the Council’s May Meeting, then they shall appoint a date for such meeting to be held. The date of the said meeting to be confirmed by the Council at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.
The preferences indicated by the Councillors as to which committee they wish to serve on. To prepare the list of Councillors to serve on the individual Standing Committees, a copy of the list to be sent to each Councillor with the Agenda for the Annual Meeting, such list to be confirmed at the Annual Meeting.
(v) Immediately following the meeting of the Council Policy Committee, as in (iv) above, there shall be held a meeting of the Council Honours Committee at which it shall be decided whether any persons’ names should be recommended to the Annual Meeting for receipt of the “Honour of Mumbles”.
39. The Chairman or in his/her absence the Vice-Chairman, ex-officio, shall be voting members of every committee.
40. a) 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. A Councillor may only hold one office of Chairman or Vice Chairman of one Standing Committee.
b) If two or more Standing Committee Meetings are held in sequence, then the preceding meeting must close a minimum of five minutes before the time designated for the opening of the subsequent meeting.
c) The record of Councillors’ attendance at Council Meetings and Standing Committee Meetings upon which they serve shall form part of the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council.
41. 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.
42. Sub-Committees
Every committee may appoint sub-committees for purposes to be specified by the committee.
43. The Chairman or in his/her absence the 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.
44. For quorum see para. 7 hereof.
45. The Standing Orders or rules of debate and the Standing Order on interests of members in contract and other matters shall apply to committee and sub-committee meetings.
46. Advisory Committees
1) The Council may create advisory committees, whose name, and number of members and the bodies to be invited to nominate members, shall be specified.
2) The Clerk shall inform the members of each advisory committee of the terms of reference of the committee.
3) An advisory committee may make recommendation and give notice thereof to the Council.
4) An advisory committee may consist wholly of persons who are not members of the Council but shall include the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the relevant Standing Committee.
47. Voting in Committees
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.
48. Chairman of committees and sub-committees shall in the case of an equality of votes have a second or casting vote.
49. Presence of Non-Members of Committees at Committee Meetings
A member who has proposed a resolution, which has been referred to any committee of which he/she is not a member, may explain his resolution to the committee but shall not vote.
50. Accounts and Financial Statement
1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this Standing Order or by statute, all accounts for payment and claims upon the Council shall be laid before the Council.
2) 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 Responsible Financial Officer and the Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. Such payment shall be authorised by the committee, if any, having charge of the business to which it relates, or by the R.F.O. and Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee, for payment.
3) All payments ratified under sub-paragraph (2) of this Standing Order shall be separately included in the next schedule of payments before the Council.
51. Interests
If a member has a personal interest as defined by the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council on the 11th day of December 2001 then that interest must be declared and a decision made by the member whether to stay or withdraw.
52. 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/or as required by statute.
53. If a candidate for any appointment under the Council is to his/her knowledge related to any member of or the holder of any officer under the Council, he/she and the person to whom he is related shall disclose the relationship in writing to the Clerk A candidate who fails so to do shall be disqualified for such appointment, and, if appointed, may be dismissed without notice. The Clerk shall report to the Council or to the appropriate committee any such disclosure. Where a relationship to a member is disclosed, Standing Order 51shall apply as appropriate.
54. The Clerk shall make known the purpose of Standing Order 53 to every candidate.
55. Canvassing and Recommendations By Members
1) Canvassing of members of the Council or of any committee, directly or indirectly, for any appointment under the Council shall disqualify the candidate for such appointment. The Clerk shall make known the purport of this sub-paragraph of this Standing Order to every candidate.
2) A member of the Council or of any committee shall not solicit for any person any appointment under the Council or recommend any person for such appointment or for promotion; but, nevertheless, any such member may give a written testimonial of a candidate’s ability, experience or character for submission to the Council with an application for appointment.
56. Standing Order Nos. 53 and 55 shall apply to tenders as if the person making the tender were a candidate for an appointment.
57. Inspection of Documents
A member may inspect any document in possession of the Council or a committee, and shall, on request, be supplied with a copy.
58. All minutes kept by the Council and by any committee shall be open for inspection by any member of the Council.
59. Unauthorised Activities
No member of the Council or of any committee or sub-committee shall in the name of or on behalf of the Council, unless authorised to do so by the Council or the relevant committee:
a) inspect any lands or premises which the Council has a right or duty to inspect;
or
b) issue orders, instructions or directions.
c) hold meetings, attend meetings or presentations with Councillors or employees of the City and County of Swansea; Statutory Undertakings; Police, Fire Service, Ambulance Service; Charities, Companies, Firms, Representative Bodies or any other organisation or individual. A minimum of two Councillors shall attend and a contemporaneous note of the meeting be made. If due to circumstances such a meeting takes place at short notice and it is not possible to obtain authority than retrospective authority should be obtained at the first possible opportunity.
d) Accept or refuse invitations to civic, social or any other event from whatever source they are received. If, due to invitation being received at short notice, it is not possible to obtain authority then retrospective authority be obtained at the first possible opportunity
e) Save that should an elected member of Mumbles Community Council also be an elected member of the City and County of Swansea then in furtherance of any request made by Mumbles Community Council or any of its Committees that the said member in his/her capacity as a member of the City and County of Swansea Council obtain information or investigate action by the City & County of Swansea Council then the actioning of such request be deemed to be carried out in the said members capacity as a member of the City & County of Swansea and not under the Standing Orders/Code of Conduct of Mumbles Community Council.
Any request made to the said member by Mumbles Community Council or any of its committees shall be minuted as shall the report of the member upon the outcome of the request.
60. 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 by means of the following resolutions:-
“That in view of the [special] [confidential] nature of the business about to be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the press and public be temporarily excluded and they are instructed to withdraw”.
61. At all meetings of the Council the Chairman may at his/her discretion and at a convenient time in the transaction of business, adjourn the meeting so as to allow any members of the public to address the meeting in relation to the business to be transacted at that meeting.
62. The Council shall afford to the press reasonable facilities for the taking of their report of any proceedings at which they are entitled to be present. There shall be no audio or video recording or photographs of the meeting without the express approval of the Council save for audio recording of meetings made by the Clerk or Acting Clerk for the purpose of preparing minutes.
63. If a member of the public interrupts the proceedings at any meeting, the Chairman may, after warning, order that he/she be removed from the meeting and may adjourn the meeting for such period as is necessary to restore order.
64. Confidential Business
1) No member of the Council or of any committee or sub-committee shal disclose to any person not a member of the Council any business declared to be confidential by the Council, the committee or the sub-committee as the case may be.
2) Any member in breach of the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Standing Order shall be removed from any committee or sub-committee of the council by the Council.
65. Liaison with County and District Councillors
A summons and abbreviated Agenda for each meeting shall be sent to the County Councillors for the appropriate wards.
66. Unless the Council otherwise orders, a copy of each letter ordered to be sent to the County Council shall be transmitted to the County Councillor for the appropriate ward as the case may require.
67. Planning Applications
The Clerk shall refer every planning application received to the Chairman of the Planning Committee or in the Chairman’s absence to the Vice-Chairman within 48 hours of receipt.
68. Financial Matters
The Council shall consider and approve Financial Regulations drawn up by the Finance and General Purposes Committee in consultation with the Responsible Financial Officer.
1) Any proposed contract for the supply of goods, materials, services and the execution of works with an estimated value in excess of £50,000 shall be procured on the basis of a formal tender as summarised in (2) below.
2) Any formal tender process shall comprise the following steps:
i) a public notice of intention to place a contract to be placed in a local newspaper;
ii) a specification of the goods, materials, services and the execution of works shall be drawn up.
iii) tenders are to be sent, in a sealed marked envelope, to the Clerk by a stated date and time;
iv) tenders submitted are to be opened, after the stated closing date and time, by the Clerk and at least one member of Council;
v) tenders are then to be assessed and reported to the appropriate meeting of Council or Committee
3) Neither the Council, nor any Committee, is bound to accept the lowest tender, estimate or quote. Any tender notice shall contain a reference to the Standing Orders 53, 55 and 56 regarding improper activity.
4) The Financial Regulations of the Council shall be subject to annual review by the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
69. Code of Conduct on Complaints
The Council shall deal with complaints of maladministration allegedly committed by the Council or by any officer or member in such manner as adopted by the Council except for those complaints which should be properly directed to the Commissioner for consideration.
70. Variation, Revocation and Suspension of Standing Orders
Any or every part of the Standing Orders except those printed in bold type may be suspended by resolution in relation to any specific item of business.
71. A resolution permanently to add, vary or revoke a Standing Order shall when proposed and seconded, stand adjourned without discussion to the next ordinary meeting of the Council.
72. 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 understanding to observe the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council.
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