Speaking rights - South Cambridgeshire

From Camlink

We set out on this page the arrangements under which members of the public can speak at, and present petitions to, meetings of South Cambridgeshire District Council. The guidance is extracted from the District Council website.

Questions at Council and committees

At the discretion of the Chairman, members of the public may ask questions of any member at ordinary meetings of the Council. A standard protocol to be observed by questioners is given below:

1. Questioners will not be permitted to raise the competence or performance of a Councillor or officer, nor any matter involving exempt information or normally considered 'confidential'. Questioners cannot make any abusive or defamatory comments.

2. Each questioner must make it clear whether he or she is speaking as a private individual or as a representative of an organisation.

3. If any clarification of what the questioner has said is required, the Chairman will have the discretion to allow Councillors to ask questions.

4. The questioner will not be permitted to participate in any subsequent discussion and will not be entitled to vote.

5. The Chairman will decide when and what time will be set aside for questions depending on the amount of business on the agenda for the meeting. Normally questions will be dealt with as the first substantive item of the meeting. A maximum of ten minutes will be allowed for public questions on any specific agenda item.

6. Individual questioners, to set the scene for their questions, will be permitted to speak for a maximum of three minutes.

Similar arrangements apply for questions from members of the public at meetings of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, and the Policy Development Committee.

Public speaking at Planning committees

Public speaking at Planning Committee meetings was approved by full Council in May 2007 and began on 1st August 2007.

This programme in South Cambridgeshire has come about as a result of the government requiring better community consultation about, and involvement in, the planning process. It demonstrates the Council's commitment to improving the quality of public involvement with increased opportunities for public speaking.

The new arrangements will allow a spokesman for the objectors, followed by the applicant (or the agent or a supporter), a representative of the parish council, and the local Member (even if not a member of the Committee) an opportunity (though there is no compulsion) to address the Committee for up to three minutes each. Members of the Committee may then wish to ask questions of the speaker in order to clarify points just made.

A set of guidelines can be downloaded from the District Council website.

Petitions

For the purposes of this guidance, a petition is defined as "a document embodying a formal written request for some form of action or the consideration of some matter by the Council". Your petition must be relevant to some matter for which the District Council has powers or duties, or is of general concern affecting the district or part of the district, its Council Tax or National Non-Domestic Rate (NNDR) payers.

A detailed explanation of the arrangements for members of the public to present petitions to South Cambridgeshire District Council is given here.

Back to: Public speaking rights and petitions