The Terms of Reference for this body are available to view in Part
3 of the Constitution.
A Guide to Public
Questions at Council Meetings
At each meeting of the Council, a period
not exceeding 30 minutes shall be allowed for persons not being
Members of the Full Council having an interest in the Borough to
ask questions
What will you need to do?
Questions to Council will be permitted if
they meet the following criteria:
Questions must relate to:
·
The Councils Policies;
·
The work of the Council in respect of any
matter or issue affecting the Borough.
Questions relating to the following will
not be allowed:
·
relate solely to the questioner or their
family
·
contain any defamatory, confidential or
exempt material or would require a response that might be
defamatory or require the disclosure of confidential or exempt
material
·
relate to specific applications for
planning permission or for licences
·
relate to individual Members or officers
of the Council or an individual member of the public.
Once you have met the question
criteria.
Submit the question in writing to the
Chief Executive before 5pm two clear working days before the
Council meeting. Questions can be submitted
to democratic.services@west-norfolk.gov.uk
Your question and its content will be
recorded in a register in the order they are
received.
Once you have submitted a question, the
Chief Executive will write to you and confirm:
1.
Whether or not the question is valid and
complies;
2.
The date, time and place of the meeting
at which the question can be asked;
3.
The procedure for asking the question and
receiving an answer;
4.
Your position in a list of people who
wish to ask a question
When submitting your question you will also need to
provide the following information to democratic.services@west-norfolk.gov.uk
:
·
Your name
·
Email address
·
Telephone number
This is to ensure that we know who you are and we can
admit you to the meeting.
Meeting Protocol
If you submit a question, you may pose
the question to the Council yourself or you can be accompanied by a
friend and allow the friend to ask the question.
You may also ask a supplementary question
after your original question has been answered but the response and
the time taken to ask the supplementary question shall not exceed a
total of 5 minutes.
The Council will not be able to debate
the question or its answer at that meeting.
Responses
You should address your question to the
Mayor and it will be answered by any Councillor or officer of the
Council nominated by the Mayor.
A reply may be one of the
following:
·
A direct oral response;
·
In exceptional circumstances, a written
reply can be given. If this does happen then the Mayor will
explain why an oral response is inconvenient and the reasons for
this, which will be minuted. A
written response shall be received within 7 days of the
meeting;
·
The Mayor will nominate which Councillor
will respond to your question.
Where and when?
View details of Council meetings here