STANDING ORDERS
Adopted 19th July 2013
CONTENTS
TYPES OF MEETING
1 MEETINGS
2 SPECIAL MEETING
3 THE STATUTORY ANNUAL MEETING
PROCEDURES AT MEETINGS
4 CHAIRMAN
5 QUORUM OF THE ASSOCIATION, COMMITTEES AND SUB-COMMITTEES
6 ORDER OF BUSINESS
7 URGENT BUSINESS
8 RULES OF DEBATE
9 VOTING
10 VOTING ON APPOINTMENTS
11 RESOLUTIONS MOVED ON NOTICE
12 RESOLUTIONS MOVED WITHOUT NOTICE
13 ALTERATIONS TO RESOLUTION
14 RECESSION OF PREVIOUS RESOLUTION
15 RIGHT TO REPLY
16 QUESTIONS
17 CLOSURE
18 ADMISSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS AT MEETINGS
CONDUCT OF MEMBERS
19 DISORDERLY CONDUCT
20 INTERESTS
21 CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
22 UNAUTHORISED ACTIVITIES
23 CODE OF CONDUCT COMPLAINTS
FINANCE
24 FINANCIAL MATTERS
25 RESOLUTIONS ON EXPENDITURE
26 EXPENDITURE
MISCELLANEOUS
27 SIGNING AND SEALING OF DOCUMENTS
28 CONSULTATIONS
29 VARIATION OR REVOCATION
30 COPIES OF STANDING ORDERS TO MEMBERS
31 WELSH LANGUAGE POLICY
TYPES OF MEETING
1. 0 Meetings
1.1 Quarterly meetings of the Association shall be held in the months of
January, April, July and October of each year.
1.2 There shall be held a meeting of the Executive in the months of
March, June, September and December of each year.
1.3 Smoking shall not be permitted at any meetings of the Council.
2.0 Special Meeting
2.1 A special meeting of the Association may be called by the Chair of
The Association, the Vice Chair (in the absence of the Chair) or Secretary to conduct urgent business.
2.2 A special meeting of a Executive may be called by the Chairman of
The Association, or the Secretary.
2.3 A special meeting of the Association or Executive can be called by no
less than three Councils by request to the Secretary.
2.4 When a special meeting is called the agenda must be made known to the
Secretary so that every Member is aware of the reason for the meeting.
3.0 The Annual General Meeting
3.1 The Association shall hold its Annual General Meeting each year in
July.
PROCEDURES AT MEETINGS
4.0 Chairman
4.1 The Chair of any Association Meeting shall be the chair of those
meetings or in the absence of the Chair the Vice Chair.
4.2 In the absence of both the Chair and Vice Chair
the immediate past Chair shall preside.
5.0 Quorum of the Association and Executive
5.1 Three members or one third of the total Membership, whichever
is the greater, shall constitute a quorum at all Meetings of the
Association.
5.2 If a quorum is not present or if during the meeting the number of
Councillors present (not counting those debarred by reason of
declared interest) falls below the required quorum, the meeting shall
be adjourned and business not transacted shall be so transacted at
the next meeting or on such other date and time as the Chairman may
fix.
6. Order of business
6.1 At each Annual Council Meeting the business shall include the approval of
minutes, election of officers, approval of accounts, setting of dates for
meetings and venues, membership fees and meal costs together with such
other matters as shall be agreed between the Chair and Secretary.
6.2 At every Association meeting other than the Annual Meeting the first
business shall be to appoint a chairman if the Chair,
Vice Chair or immediate past Chair of the Association
shall be absent.
6.3 After the first business has been completed, the order of business is to be
confirmed by the Chair as per the agenda, or re-ordered if so
agreed.
7.0 Urgent Business
7.1 A motion to vary the order of business on the grounds of urgency:
7.1.1. May be proposed by the Chair or by any Member, and if
proposed by the Chair, may be put to the vote without being
seconded and shall be put to the vote without discussion.
8.0 Rules of Debate
8.1 No discussion of the Minutes of the immediate previous meeting shall take
place other than about their accuracy or corrections to the Minutes and
such alterations shall be initialled by the Chairman.
8.2 A resolution or amendment shall not be discussed unless it has been
proposed and seconded, and, unless proper notice has already been given,
it shall, if required by the Chairman, be reduced to writing and handed to
her/him before it is further discussed or put to the meeting.
8.3 A Member when seconding a resolution or amendment may, if s/he then
declares her/his intention to do so, reserve her/his speech until a later period
of debate.
8.4 A Member shall stand, give their name and Council and then
direct her/his speech to the question under discussion or to
a personal explanation or to a question of order.
8.5 No speech by a mover of a resolution shall exceed five minutes
and no other speech shall exceed three minutes except by the Consent of
the Council.
8.6 An amendment shall be either:
8.6.1 To leave out words.
8.6.2 To leave out words and insert others.
8.6.3 To insert or add words.
8.7 An amendment shall not have the effect of negating the resolution before the
Association.
8.8 If an amendment be carried, the resolution, as amended, shall take the place
of the original resolution and shall become the resolution upon which any
further amendment may be moved.
8.9 A further amendment shall not be moved until the Association has disposed
of every amendment previously moved.
8.10 The mover of a resolution or of an amendment shall have a right of reply, not
exceeding five minutes.
8.11 A Member, other than the mover of a resolution, shall not, without leave of
the Association, speak more than once on any resolution except to move an
amendment or further amendment, or on an amendment, or on a point of
order, or in personal explanation, or to move a closure.
8.12 A Member may speak on a point of order or on a personal explanation. A
member speaking for these purposes shall be heard forthwith. A personal
explanation shall be confined to some material part of a former speech by
her/him which may have been misunderstood.
8.13 A motion or amendment may be withdrawn by the propos or with the consent
of the Association, which shall be signified without discussion, and no
member may speak upon it after permission has been asked for its
withdrawal unless such permission has been refused.
8.14 When a resolution is under debate no other resolution shall be moved except
The following:
8.14.1 To amend the resolution.
8.14.2 To proceed to next business.
8.14.3 To adjourn the debate.
8.14.4 That the question now be put.
8.14.5 That a Member named shall not be further heard.
8.14.6 That a Member named leave the meeting.
8.14.7 That the resolution be referred to a Committee.
8.14.8 To exclude the public and press.
8.14.9 To adjourn the meeting.
8.15 The ruling of the Chair on a point of order or on the admissibility of a
personal explanation shall not be discussed.
8.16 Any member who wishes to speak shall raise their hand and shall not speak
until asked to do so by the Chair.
8.17 Members shall address the Chair.
8.18 If two or more members wish to speak the Chair shall decided who to call
upon.
8.19 Whenever the Chair speaks during a debate all other members shall be
silent.
9 Voting
9.1 Members shall vote with a show of hands except where:
9.1.1 More than four of those members present and voting require a
secret vote.
9.1.2 Only Councillors representing Member Councils may vote on any
matter.
9.2 The votes shall be recorded if at least one member requires it and shall
be recorded by the Secretary. Such a request must be made prior to
moving to the next business.
9.3 If at any meeting the voting shall be tied then the Chair shall have
a casting vote whether or not such person has voted already.
9.4 If the person presiding at the Annual Meeting would have ceased to be a
Member of the Association but for the statutory provisions which preserve the membership of the Chair and Vice Chair until the end of
their term of office he or she may not give an original vote in an election
for Chair.
9.5 The person presiding must give a casting vote whenever there
is an equality of votes in an election for Chair.
10 Voting on appointments
10.1 Where more than two persons have been nominated for any position to be
filled by the Association and of the votes given there is not an absolute
majority in favour of one person, the name of the person having the least
number of votes shall drop off the list and a fresh vote taken, and so on until a
majority of votes is given in favour of one candidate.
11 Resolutions Moved on Notice
11.1 Except as provided by these Standing Orders, no resolution may be moved
unless the business to which it relates has been put on the Agenda by the
Secretary or the Mover has given notice in writing of its terms and has
delivered the notice to the Secretary at least fourteen clear days before the
next meeting of the Association.
11.2 The Secretary shall date every notice of resolution or recommendation when
received by him, shall number each notice in the order in which it was
received and shall enter it into a book which shall be open to inspection for
every member of the Association.
11.3 The Secretary shall insert in the summons for every meeting all notices of
motion or recommendation properly given in the order in which they have
been received unless the member giving a notice of motion has stated in
writing that s/he intends to move at some later meeting or that s/he
withdraws it.
11.4 If a resolution or recommendation specified in the summons is not moved
either by the member who gave notice of it or by another member, it shall,
unless postponed by the Association, be treated as withdrawn and shall not
be moved without fresh notice.
12 Resolutions Moved without Notice
12.1 Resolutions dealing with the following matters shall be moved without notice:
12.1.1 To appoint a Chairman of the meeting.
12.1.2 To correct the minutes.
12.1.3 To approve the minutes.
12.1.4 To alter the order of business.
12.1.5 To proceed to the next business.
12.1.6 To close or adjourn the debate.
12.1.7 To refer a matter to the Executive.
12.1.8 To appoint a Committee or members thereof.
12.1.9 To adopt a report.
12.1.10 To authorise the signing of documents.
12.1.11 To amend a motion.
12.1.12 To give leave to withdraw a motion or amendment.
12.1.13 To extend the time limit for speeches.
12.1.14 To exclude the public or press.
12.1.15 To silence or eject a Member named for misconduct.
12.1.16 To give the consent of the Association where these Standing Orders
require such consent.
12.1.17 To suspend any Standing Order.
12.1.18.To adjourn any meeting.
13 Alterations of Resolution
13.1 A Member may, with the consent of his or her seconder, move amendments
to his or her own resolution.
14 Recession of Previous Resolution
14.1 A decision (whether affirmative or negative) of the Association shall not be
reversed within six months except either by a special resolution, the written notice whereof bears the names of at least three members of the Association.
14.2 When a special resolution or any other resolution moved under the provisions
of paragraph 14.1 of this order has been disposed of, no similar resolution
may be moved within a further six months.
14.3 Such decisions maybe re-considered earlier if there is new and relevant
information available which was not considered at the time of the decision.
15 Right to Reply
15.1 The mover of a resolution shall have a right to reply immediately before the
resolution is put to the vote. If an amendment is proposed the mover of the
amendment shall be entitled to reply immediately before the amendment is
put to the vote. A member exercising a right of reply shall not introduce a
new matter. After the right of reply has been exercised or waived, a vote
shall be taken without further discussion.
16 Questions
16.1 A member may ask the Chairman of the Association or Secretary any
question concerning the business of the Association.
16.2 Every question shall be put and answered with or without discussion.
16.3 A person to whom a question has been put may decline to answer.
17 Closure
17.1 At the end of any speech a Member may, without comment,
move “that the question be now put”, “that the debate be now adjourned” or
“that the Association do now adjourn”. If such motion is seconded, the Chair
shall put the motion but, in the case of motion “that the question be now put”
only if he is of the opinion that the question before the Meeting has been
sufficiently debated. If the motion “that the question be now put” is carried,
s/he shall call upon the mover to exercise or waive her or his right of reply
and shall put the question immediately after that right has been exercised or
waived. The adjournment of a debate or of the Meeting shall not prejudice
the mover’s right of reply at the resumption.
18 Admission of the Public and Press at Meetings
18.1 The public and press shall not be admitted to all meetings of the Association
and its Executive.
18.2 The Chair may approve an invitation to the press if it is felt that such
attendance is in the interests of the Association.
CONDUCT OF MEMBERS
19 Disorderly Conduct
19.1 All members must observe the Code of Conduct, a copy of which is available from
the Secretary.
19.2 No member shall at a meeting persistently disregard the ruling of the
Chair, wilfully obstruct business, or behave irregularly, offensively,
improperly or in such a manner as to bring the Association into disrepute.
19.3 If, in the opinion of the Chair, a Member has broken the provisions of
section 19.2 above of this Order, the Chair shall express that opinion
to the Meeting and thereafter any Member may move that the member
named be no longer heard or that the Member named do leave the meeting,
and that the motion, if seconded, shall be put forthwith and without
discussion.
19.4 If a Member reasonably believes another Member is in breach of the
code of conduct, that Member is under a duty to report that breach to
the Chair or Secretary for discussion at the next available Quarterly or
Executive Meeting.
19.5 If either of the motions mentioned in section 19.3 above is disobeyed the
Chair may adjourn the meeting or take such further steps as
may be reasonably necessary to enforce them.
19.6 If any Member shall be considered by the Chair to be in breach of the
Code of Conduct or the Standing Orders such breach shall be reported to the
Chair and the Association will be asked as a corporate body to decide on
such matter.
20 Interests
20.1 If a Member has a personal interest as defined by the Code of Conduct
adopted by the Association then that interest must be declared and a
decision made by the Member to either stay or withdraw from the
meeting.
21 Confidential Business
21.1 No member of the Association shall disclose to any person not a member of
the Association any business considered to be of a sensative nature.
21.2 Any member in breach of the above provisions of this Standing Order shall be
removed from the Association Meetings for an agreed period.
22 Unauthorised Activities
22.1 No Member of the Association shall express any view on behalf of the
Association at the Welsh Assembly or at Parliament unless it has first been:
Discussed at a meeting of the Association.
Discussed at a meeting of the Executive.
Contained in an approved response to a consultation.
Contained in a consultation response through Web Site
Consultation (where time does not allow the
others).
23 Code of Conduct on Complaints
23.1 The Association shall adopt a code of conduct and complaints procedure as a separate document.
FINANCE
24 Financial Matters
24.1 The Association shall conduct all financial matters in a transparent way.
24.2 The Secretary (or treasurer if appointed) shall:
25.2.1 Keep accounting records and systems of internal control.
25.2.2 Provide information for auditors appointed by the Annual Meeting.
25.2.3 A report shall be presented to each meeting of the Association.
25.2.4 Expenditure shall be approved by the Association.
25.2.5 Membership fees and lunch costs shall be approved at the Annual Meeting.
25 Resolutions on Expenditure
25.1 The Association can authorise expenditure in the following ways:
Approval at the Association Quarterly Meeting
Approval at an Executive Meeting
Approval by the Chair in an emergency
Approval by the Secretary in line with a budget or approval of the
Association.
26 Expenditure
26.1 All cheques must be signed by a designated Officer of the Association and the
Secretary or Treasurer.
26.2 Under no circumstances must blank cheques be signed.
MISCELLANEOUS
27 Signing of Documents
27.1 A document shall not be signed unless so passed by a resolution of the
Association.
27.2 If a document is to be so signed then two Councillors shall be recorded in the
minutes and they shall effect the signing on behalf of the Association.
28 Consultations
28.1 Where a consultation is considered to be important to the work of Town and
Community Councils a paper shall be prepared by either the Secretary or
Assistant Secretary for Members.
28.2 Where possible the consultation shall be discussed at the Quarterly Meeting,
if not possible then the Executive Meeting and if that is not possible by
posting on the Web Site seeking observations.
28.3 The consultation response in final form shall be posted on the Web Site.
29 Variation, Revocation and Suspension of Standing
Orders
29.1 No alterations to these standing orders shall be made other than by recommendation from the Executive Meeting the Annual Meeting of the Association.
29.2 No alterations can come into effect until approved by the Annual Meeting of the Association.
30. Copies of Standing Orders to Members
30.1 A copy of these Standing Orders shall be made available to member
Councils and shall be posted on the Web Site.
31. Welsh Language Policy
31.1 The Association has adopted and will operate the Welsh Language Policy (Blue Version)
31.2 The Association will reply in Welsh if requested to any public or members letters or queries.
31.3 The Association will issue its Agenda and Minutes in Welsh if requested.
31.4 If a Member wishes to receive any supporting papers in Welsh, translation must be arranged by the Member Council affected at their own cost.
Signed……………………………………………………………………… Chair
Signed……………………………………………………………………… President
Signed……………………………………………………………………… Secretary
Dated 19th July 2013
RAR/July 2013
