Committee details

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