Consultation process
Review of Scheme for Establishment of Community CouncilsPlease leave details of your feedback
Comments that are specific to a certain section of the Scheme should be numbered for easier reference eg section 2 part 2.9.
Consultation process
Review of Scheme for Establishment of Community CouncilsComments that are specific to a certain section of the Scheme should be numbered for easier reference eg section 2 part 2.9.
Brought forward from previous consultation
Q. p8 2.23 CC member who has declared financial or other interest in relevant matters coming before the CC - The CC member could assume the rights of a member of the public, and give comment but not be involved in the decision making process as a community councillor on that matter?
R. The Community councillor cannot choose to assume the rights of a member of the public. They are for the purpose of the proceeding a member of the community council with the power to make and influence decisions on the matter, it is for this reason that if they have an interest in the relevant matter being discussed, they must declare and withdraw from the proceedings and discussions involved in making the decision, to avoid the accusation/perception of bias/undue influence or swaying the decision their way.
Therefore will remain as it is in the final draft proposal.
Brought forward from previous consultation
Q 4.4 Co-opted members must be eligible for membership of the Community Council as detailed in Section 2 of the Scheme. In addition, they must have attended some previous CC meetings. Reserves may initially be taken from the 4 yearly elections if still available and thereafter there is a need to advertise for co-option.
R. Scheme section 2 details eligibility for membership, there should be no additional eligibility criteria for Co-opted members, as the community councillor membership does not require them to have attended some previous meetings before standing for election to become members, then should not be mandated for co-opted members.
Brought forward from previous consultation
Q. 12. Complaints There needs to be a statement that complaint procedures should not appear in regular minutes when the complaint is internal to CC members or indeed made by a member of the public??.
R. To be added to Good Practice Guidance
While not all details need to be discussed at a public meeting or recorded in full in the minutes, the minutes should acknowledge when a complaint has been received and note how it is being dealt with, including any updates as the process progresses. The outcome should also be recorded in the minutes once the process is complete.
Q. What constitutes a breach and what constitutes a serios breach?
R. Providing a definite response is hard since each complaint requires its own individual consideration.
Q. When is it appropriate to arbitrate just by the Chair, do we really need to say chairperson?
R. No, we don’t, proposed changing all references to Chairperson to Chair throughout the document.