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
Members of the public are able to ask the
Council a question on a topic within the Council's control. A
total of 30 minutes is allocated at the Council meeting for
the public questions.
It is the intention of the Borough
Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk to hold Council
meetings for the foreseeable future as online meetings, using the
Zoom video conferencing system. If you wish to view the meeting you
can do so by accessing www.youtube.com/WestNorfolkBC.
Since the introduction of restrictions on
gatherings of people by the Government in March 2020, it has not
been possible to hold standard face to face public meetings at the
Council offices. This led to a temporary suspension of meetings.
The Coronavirus Act 2020 has now been implemented and in
Regulations made under Section 78, it gives Local Authorities the
power to hold meetings without it being necessary for any of the
participants to be present together in the same room.
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:
·
The questioner personally or their
family;
·
Any specific planning applications for
planning permission or any licenses;
·
Any Councillor or Officer of the Council
or any member of the public;
·
Any defamatory confidential or exempt
information;
Once you have met the question
criteria.
Submit the question in writing to the
Chief Executive before 5pm 3 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
You will be asking your question remotely
via the Zoom video conferencing system and will receive an email
confirming that you are registered to speak along with the relevant
details to access the meeting. Please ensure that you can access
Zoom and have set up an account if necessary. You can choose to
speak being either seen and heard, or just heard and we would also
ask that you submit a written representation in case of any issues
with the software. If you do not wish to speak via a remote link,
please let us know, and you can submit a written representation,
which will be read out at the meeting.
Information on how to set up and join a Zoom meeting is available
here.
Join the meeting early, you will remain
in the waiting room and will be let in once it is time for you to
ask your question. Once you question
has been dealt with you will be removed from the Zoom meeting,
however you can continue to watch the Council meeting on the
WestNorfolkBC You Tube
channel.
If you submit a question, you may pose
the question to the Council yourself or you can ask a friend to do
so for you.
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