If a Chairman says he will resign after the next PC meeting in 6 weeks time must he go straight away

Question

The Chairman says I intend to resign after the next PC Meeting Can he do that or must he go immediately?

Answer 1

The chair resigns on the day the council receives his letter of resignation, unless his  letter states a specific date  of resignation. So no he does not go straight away, and may need to preside over the election of his replacement at the next meeting.

Comments

Exactly as per @Graeme_r

In my case, I resigned as Chairman, mid-year due to family commitments, so I gave the meeting notice so that councillors could plan and put their name forward. It would not have been fair to spring it on then on the Agenda with just a few days notice and turn up to a meeting where no one wants to put themselves forward.

I also directed councillors to the Clerk and to me if they wanted to know more about the role, rather than suddenly finding out on the job.

Answer 2

If the chair wishes to resign from that role but continue to be a member of the council, section 88 states:-

"On a casual vacancy occurring in the office of chairman of any council, an election to fill the vacancy shall be held not later than the next ordinary meeting of the council held after the date on which the vacancy occurs, or if that meeting is held within fourteen days after that date, then not later than the next following ordinary meeting of the council, and shall be conducted in the same manner as an ordinary election."

In other words, you must have a gap of at least two weeks between the resignation of the chair and the election of a successor. The vice-chair, if you have one, assumes the role in the interim.