Public Participation Policy

Members of the public and press are welcome to join the meeting.

A Parish Council meeting is not a public meeting, but a meeting that is held in public. All members of the public have a statutory right to attend council meetings as observers, but as part of our commitment to community engagement, we also choose to set aside time at each meeting public participation for questions from parishioners.   Members of the public are welcome to attend to ask questions about agenda items or issues causing concern. Submissions (to the Parish Clerk) in advance of the meeting are welcomed so that questions can be answered more fully.

Members of the public are very welcome to stay for the remainder of the Council meeting, as observers, but will not be able to join in any subsequent discussions.  If confidential items (e.g. staffing issues) are discussed, members of the public may be excluded.

Guidance

Please note, public participation is not a question and answer or a debating time, rather an opportunity for you to make your views known to Councillors or to bring forward new ideas which you would like the Council to discuss. The period of time designated for public participation at a Council meeting, in accordance with our Standing Orders, shall not exceed 15 minutes unless directed by the Chair of the meeting.

Again, in accordance with our Standing Orders, each member of the public shall not speak for more than 3 minutes. If there is an interested group of objectors or supporters, it is recommended that a spokesperson is appointed to speak on behalf of the group to ensure effective use of the time permitted.

The Council will not make any instant decisions at the behest of members of the public on items that are not included in the agenda. If matters raised are not on the agenda for the meeting these can be used to form part of the agenda for a future meeting at the discretion of the Council.

Principles of public participation

• The Chair will decide in which order matters will be heard.
• The Chair will decide whether an immediate response will be given at the meeting or to respond to the matter in writing. Written responses will be provided within 10 working days.
• Each member of the public is entitled to speak once in respect of each matter and for a maximum of 3 minutes, with 15 minutes being allocated overall for the questions from parishioners’ section. (These limits may be extended at the discretion of the Chair.)
• Questions must be addressed through the chair. All those present will act respectfully and will not act in a manner that demeans, insults, threatens or intimidates others. Offensive or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated, and Council reserves the right to curtail the contribution of and exclude anyone acting in this manner.
• Public time is not minuted, but a summary of how many people attended will be recorded.
• Questions must relate to the business of the council, be a matter for which the council has responsibility or related to the well-being of the parish.
• The Chair, or clerk, may reject a question, or a supplementary question, if it is not about a matter over which the council has responsibility, if it is defamatory, frivolous, abusive or substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of the council in the past 6 months or requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information. Where a question has been rejected a letter will be sent to the questioner setting out the reasons for the rejection.
• The Chair has the discretion to alter the order in which questions are asked.
• Councils and other local government bodies are required to allow any member of the public to take photographs, film and audio-record the proceedings, and report on all public meetings. While no prior permission is required to carry out this activity, it is advisable that any person wishing to film or audio-record a public meeting let their local government staff know so that all necessary arrangements can be made for the public meeting.

If you have any minor issues i.e.streetlights not working, litter problems etc then please visit the Parish Council website which provides details of how to report a problem.

Website: lewlparishcouncil.gov.uk

Clerks email: parishclerk@lewlparishcouncil.gov.uk