Public Participation at Parish Meetings
GUIDANCE NOTES TO PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT COUNCIL MEETINGS
Bicker Parish Council welcomes all members of the community to its meetings, which are always held in public.
Public Notices, advising a meeting is taking place, are advertised 3 full days before the said meeting and the full Agenda is available online on the Parish Council’s website https://bicker.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk, and on the notice board, at the Post Office.
Members of the Public are reminded that this is a meeting of the Parish Council, during which it will consider and make decisions on items on the published Agenda – it is not a public meeting.
There is a 15 minute Public Forum, at the start of every meeting, during which members of the public are able to raise issues of concerns, though only item on the Agenda will be considered by the Council at the meeting.
Members of the public are reminded that the following procedures will apply:
• Questions and presentation of petitions will be allowed on matters affecting the Parish Council during the allocated Public Forum.
• The time allocated to the public participation session of the meeting shall not exceed 15 minutes. The Chairman can, at his discretion, extend the time, but it must never exceed thirty minutes.
• The Chairman will invite those who wish to speak to put their hands up and identify themselves. Their names will be taken by the Clerk, and they will each be invited in turn to speak. It should be noted that members of the public who do not indicate they wish to speak when invited to do so, will not be allowed to do so.
• Each individual shall only be allowed to speak once and shall be restricted to three minutes.
• The question must be relevant to the business of the Parish Council and shall not require a response or debate, as the item will be debated at the meeting.
Although questions need not be submitted in advance in writing, it should be noted that questions presented in that form are more likely to receive detailed response and may, if the Clerk deems it appropriate, be included on the Agenda for the consideration of the Parish Council.
• Questions regarding Planning shall be relevant to a specific item on the Agenda.
• Questions should be directed to the Chairman of the meeting who may request another Member, or the Clerk, to respond.
• Questions regarding matters not on the Agenda will be noted and be answered at a later stage or, if a decision by the Parish Council is required, added to the Agenda of the next meeting.
Answers to questions may take the form of:
• A direct oral response
• When the desired information is contained in a publication, by references to the said publication
• When considered appropriate, then a written reply may be considered.
Questions that relate to individual affairs of either the questions or any other named person are not permitted, but only questions relating to matters of policy or practice i.e. matters of general rather than individual concern.
Any questions, which in the opinion of the Chairman are scurrilous, improper, capricious, irrelevant or otherwise objectionable, shall be disallowed.