Does Resolution always require motion and vote?

Question

If an outcome of considered discussion on a potential decision is minuted as an *agreed* course of action with the relevant reasoning also documented (such as, say, to postpone further consideration of an issue until after a particular event has occurred or a designated milestone has been reached), then if the decision hadn’t been specifically designated or reached by a formal Motion, nor labelled Resolution and there wasn’t an actual vote, can the Council disregard it’s decision and change course without rescinding the original position?

Answer 1

Answer 2

Minutes of meetings are, in law, evidence of decisions taken so if your minutes reflect an agreement or decision and you have accepted those minutes as accurate, then the decision is as stated regardless of whether there was an actual vote or not.
Some councils are very formal and insist upon a motion, proposer, seconder, formal vote etc. and most standing orders reflect this.  Smaller councils tend to to be less formal (although not always) and will record a decision just based on apparent consensus of those attending and some will follow a process which is somewhere between the two.  The formal route is very clear and the informal route less so but it is the acceptance of the result in the minutes that confirms or otherwise the decision taken.
If your minutes reflect a decision, anything other than following that course of action amounts to a change would need to be similarly agreed either as a rescission of a resolution (if within six months of the original) or at the very least a further debate and agreement on the way forward if outside of the six months.

Answer 3

2 parts to the question...

The headline question plus the very final part of the supporting text “...can the Council disregard it’s decision and change course without rescinding the original position..?”

The headline question - this is the wrong way round  -  how can it be “resolved” if there wasn’t a motion + vote?  It can’t  

There must have been an agenda item otherwise (whatever the subject is) should not have been discussed  if there is an agenda item there should have been a motion, if there is a motion it should be a written motion - why would you not?

If there is no motion there can be no resolution if there is no resolution there cannot be a rescission motion.  

So in answer does a resolution require a motion and a vote - well yes, obviously  without a proposal, a seconder and a vote it isn’t a resolution it’s just a discussion and nobody is bound by it because it cannot be shown to be a corporate decision  

Do you need to rescind it - no because it cannot be an official democratic decision   

These scenarios would be so much easier to decipher if there was more background detail  

Is there a subtext to all this? Are you struggling with a truculent chair / clerk or a majority group of cllrs that have little knowledge or desire to do things properly??