Can a meeting venue be changed after the agenda had gone out?

Question

The current venue does not have disability access.

Answer 1

Ideally, such matters should be considered before the publication of the agenda, especially if the change is announced less than the required three clear days beforehand. However, you wouldn't be the first council to amend an agenda after publication and it isn't the greatest sin ever committed. In this example, adequate steps should be taken to ensure that members of the public do not attend the wrong venue or, if they do, there is clear information available to direct them to the new venue. I would be inclined not to hold the public forum at the start of the meeting, in order to ensure that those who wish to participate are given adequate time to arrive.

Comments

We had this happen once after news broke out that the PC were funding a JR to be undertaken by a neighbouring Parish's local community group against the building of a new Football Stadium.  Of course "the mob" turned up at the revised venue and the Chairman simply said sorry you cant speak without notice

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I'm presuming the Chairman is Chair of the PC, in which case parishioners can always speak as they do not need to give notice provided it's during the allotted time at the beginning of a meeting or in the interest of democracy, close the meeting at an appropriate time to allow a few parishioners to speak. Then re-open.

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I agree on the issue of not requiring parishioners to give notice to speak, however closing the meeting to allow public participation raises other issues. I've heard this from a number of councils in different forms, i.e. public participation before the meeting starts, closing the meeting then re-opening as outlined by Phoenix, or suspending the standing orders to allow for a public session. The standing orders are your safety net and they relate solely to the duration of the meeting. Outside the formal part of the meeting, the council has no powers to manage the behaviour or conduct of members of the public attending. Public participation is a legal right and should form part of the meeting and be conducted in accordance with the rules laid out in the standing orders.

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Sorry Dave, it's not very often I disagree with you and I may well be out of date but I didn't think participation by the public was a legal right.  There is a right to attend meetings but I'm not sure there is a legal right to speak.  Of course, there should be and I do agree that any council that does not take the views of the electorate into consideration is on a slippery slope.   I was always told that parish council meetings are meetings in public not public meetings.

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Is closing a meeting, another cloudy area, or something which is at the discretion of the Chair of the meeting or should not happen at all?

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Sorry, my mistake. The right to participate is enshrined in the model standing orders (and common sense good practice), but you are correct that there is no legislative backing for this.

Closing a meeting is something you do once at the end of the agenda (or the allotted time) to enable everybody to go home.

Answer 2

In the past I've had to change the venue for a meeting once the agenda has gone out, when the heating broke down in the village hall in the middle of winter.  We moved to a nearby school and simply put a notice on the door telling people and also had a councillor there for ten minutes or so, delaying the start of the meeting for a few minutes too.

However, in the wider sense the accessibility of the meeting venue could be an issue.  I appreciate that in small communities it's not always possible to cover every eventuality but as far as possible the venue does need to be accessible.

Comments

Public participation is provided for in our standing orders but here's an interesting question.  Can a Councillor take part as  a resident in public participation.  ?  And is there any requirement that any question must relate to something on the agenda?

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Yes, a Councillor may take part and, if you have adopted the model standing orders, they and the LTN on Council Meetings, state that the question should relate to the business of the meeting. Having said that, there are better ways for a Councillor to communicate with the Council and members of the public wishing to question something not on the agenda may be permitted to do so at the discretion of the Chair or be advised of alternative ways to contact the Council. I often find that a member of the public raises an issue that isn't on the agenda but perhaps should be, so we agree to add it to the next agenda to allow for a properly researched and informed discussion.

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Yes there are better ways of communicating i.e. by submitting a motion.  The problem is they are never accepted ?

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These are two different issues. You couldn't submit a motion under public participation. I agree that the current guidelines give clerks too much power over the content of the agenda, but if you could garner support amongst your fellow councillors for your motion before presenting it to the clerk, more pressure could be applied for it to be included. If it has no support from others, the clerk could be forgiven for deeming it unworthy of inclusion, unless you believe that your three minutes would be sufficient to convince the majority of its merit.

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Interesting DtC...  my understanding is that a Councillor cannot speak as a MoP during a meeting and therefore cannot speak within the public participation session.  I believe this is different in Wales but in England, you are either a councillor at a meeting or a MoP and you can't swap between the two.  I don't have the legislation to hand but this came up in my Community Governance studies...

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Interesting indeed, and there's an obvious logic to that. If you are able to lay your hands on any relevant legislation, I'd like to add it to my notes. My answer was based on a convoluted explanation of the many-hatted role of a councillor from the trainer at my local ALC, but she may have got it wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. If I remember correctly, she highlighted the public participation session as the only part of the meeting at which a councillor could decide not to be a councillor.

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DtC, here is the legislation that allows Councillors in Wales to speak in the public participation session - there is nothing similar for England....

The Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) (Wales) Order 2008, Part 3, Schedule: ‘The model Code of Conduct’, para 14 (2)

"(2) Where you have a prejudicial interest in any business of your authority you may attend a meeting but only for the purpose of making representations, answering questions or giving evidence relating to the business, provided that the public are also allowed to attend the meeting for the same purpose, whether under a statutory right or otherwise."