Question

Can a parish council suspend standing orders and then sign a lease on a property?

Answer 1

Whether standing orders are in force or not, if it is a properly constituted council meeting, with an agenda that has been published at the appropriate time, council decisions can be made. Once a decision has been made by the council, the signing by council members does not need to take place in a meeting at all. But there is no obvious need to suspend standing orders if the council wishes the signing to take place during a meeting.

Answer 2

If you don't mind me asking, why is it thought necessary to suspend standing orders in order to sign a lease?

Comments

I've never really understood the concept of suspending the standing orders, particularly when it is applied in toto. Once you've torn up the rulebook, all hell could break loose.

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I completely agree, and recommend changing standing orders to allow whatever the council thinks appropriate. My preference for all but the largest parish councils is to allow anyone to speak, at the discretion of the chair, who does have more or less absolute power over the conduct of a meeting. Also, people are excessively strict in their interpretation of the restriction on who can speak - anyone who has a significant role in relation to the council (including but not limited to local councillors of principal authorities) should be allowed to speak without being treated as if they were members of the public. Again, always at the discretion of the chair. I agree that it is not sensible to abandon all control of the meeting.