Public questions/comments

Question

As a member of the public when People ask a question (when the meting is opened up to the public) at a town council meeting We are unable/allowed to respond to the councillors answers to my question.

This has meant that the councillors can answer questions in a unsatisfactory way / incomplete or not answer the question asked.
I fully understand that there has to be a curb on the length of time each member of the public is allowed, however our meetings may have at most 5 members of the public with perhaps 3 questions asked in total.
If you are not happy with your questions response you have to wait 21 days (the next meeting) to follow up on the question.

Is this normal town council practice

Answer 1

It’s normal for disfunction Councils who forget who pays for everything and that their role is to serve the public not rule over them

I know a Council where the Chair refused to meet parishioners because they were always complaining, I pointed out wasn’t it the role of a Parish Council to address the concerns not ignore them

Comments

Is there any difference between a casual vacancy procedure and a shortfall from the last election ?
We have had 6 vacancies out of 22 for over two years so they are constantly advertising " be a Councillor"

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I would suggest that acceptance of a candidate (or rejection) is a decision of the council and can only be decided by a vote of that council. Now whether that vote is by show of hands or a secret written vote is what should be defined. Of course a "secret" vote would remove future accusations of prejudice/bias, personal feelings which can be long lasting and destructive to a PC.

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The paritioners should initially adress their concerns to their ward cllrs or the clerk, and they should report back, so in a sense, the chair could be within his/her rights not to meet them.  That does not excuse the Parish Council for ignoring them though.

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So as I understand it there are no set procedures for co-opting Councillors. A Parish Council can however set a policy as to how it intends to act . You then get into a debate as to however sacrosanct  is that policy?   I think I have read somewhere that having set a policy electors have  a  "reasonable expectation" that it will  be followed...whatever that means

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Don’t start me on “ policies “ some Councils treat them as written on tablets of stone but as we all know there’s nothing to prevent  a majority of Councillors at any meeting to ignore them