Meetings & Minutes

Asking questions at Parish Council meetings

Combe Martin PC's meetings are held at 7pm on the second Monday in every month, in the Village Hall, High Street, Combe Martin.  Before the Parish Council goes into the body of the meeting, there is a chance for members of the public to speak.  Please read the section below, if you would like to speak at a Parish Council meeting.

Its always good to see members of the public attending Parish Council meetings.  Before the actual meeting, the Parish Council allocates 30mins in which villagers can ask questions.  The time limit is set because there is always a lot on the meeting agenda, and it's not good practice to let meetings go on too late into the evening.

To make sure that everyone who wants to speak has a chance, to ensure that responses are as well informed and as accurate as is possible and to make sure that urgent matters are dealt with promptly, the following rules apply to speaking in the public session at Parish Council meetings:

1  If the question is complex, requires the Parish Council to take a vote or requires information not readily to hand at a Council meeting, then members of the public must send the question in writing to the Clerk’s Office to arrive no later than 10am on the Monday preceding the Monday of the Parish Council meeting.

2  If the question is straightforward, does not need to be voted upon and can be answered from information readily available at the meeting, members of the public are welcome to ask the question at the meeting without giving any notice.

3   If a question raised without notice is not straightforward, cannot be answered from information readily available at the meeting, or requires a vote, it shall be referred to the next meeting of the Council or the next appropriate committee meeting.

4   Members of the public speaking at the public session of the Council are limited to a maximum period during which they may speak of 3 minutes, in order to permit other people to also speak without the public session exceeding its allotted time.

5   Whenever questions are received which do not relate to parish council business, the question shall not be included in the list of questions to be placed on the agenda, but is immediately referred on to the appropriate body and the enquirer advised accordingly, to avoid unnecessary delay in the provision of answers. Once the meeting has been convened, no member of the Press or the Public is permitted to speak, unless specifically requested by the Chairman so to do.

Parish Council Minutes
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Council Minutes Archive

2008
2009