new parish council agenda and chair

Question

hi 8 new councillors  won last week but one existing also chairman for the last group our next pc meeting he seems to think he stays as chairman until voted out none of us want him can we do anything prior to the next PC meeting in 2 weeks  the clerk is his friend  and it seesm we cant put items on the agenda if these 2 dont want it seems anti democratic and plain wrong as the village has problems caused by them that need solving quick  any ideas much appreciated  and is there a standard contract for clerk

Answer 1

To be clear - was the 'old chairman' elected to the 'new' council.

It makes a difference to the answer you are seeking.

Comments

yes he is one of 9 that where elected

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In that case (much as has been said by other contributors) your clerk must issue an agenda for the meeting, the first item of which, MUST state "To elect a Chairman for the forthcoming municipal year" or words to that effect.  The outgoing chairman, if present, MUST chair that first item.  By that I mean he must seek nominations for chairman which (if your Standing Orders demand it - have a look at them beforehand) should be seconded.  The chairman may propose himself - sounds odd but that is how it is.  Whoever gets a majority is chairman for the forthcoming year.  If there is an equality of votes the 'old' chairman has a casting vote which he must use to break the tie.  And just to be clear - he may break the tie by voting for himself - unpopular but legal.  I hope that, along with the other contributions, is of assistance.

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this is very clear and helpfull thank you  its a whole new world as a councillor

Answer 2

The May meeting is when your Council should be deciding who is Chair, Vice Chair and which councillors belong to which committees. This should be done every year in May anyway, but particularly in an election year. Strictly speaking, he can't just nominate himself to be chair either; he should propose and have someone second - but this should be the case with any motion (although it's not often followed through on).
You'll need to watch what happens very closely if you have the situation you're describing and enforce the rules if the clerk is willing to let things slide/work with one person. It's a pain in the arse, but I would spend the next two weeks doing an awful lot of reading and understanding if you're new to the game. Standing Orders, Financial Regulations, terms of reference for any committees you have (all of which should be on your PC website and certainly available from your clerk) and try to get hold of some of the more "day-to-day" procedural Legal Topic Notes from NALC. These offer legal understandings about rules and procedures on a given topic. LTN 5E is a good one for procedures in meetings. You might get lucky and find one online...

The only way you'll be able to force the clerk to pay attention is if you prove to them you know the rules and you apply them correctly because for a dodgy clerk, having a bunch of ignorant councillors means they can get away with... let's say "making things easier for themselves"(!)

Also, try to get your papers signed ASAP. The sooner you sign them, the sooner you can start acting as a councillor and you won't get stupid excuses like "I couldn't send you the agenda because you wasn't a councillor at the time" etc

Good luck!

Comments

a very helpfull response i will start reading asap  playing catch up it seems

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again i can not thank members on here it ois all very very helful

Answer 3

He remains chairman until the new one is elected at the annual meeting. Therefore he opens the meeting, first item is electing a chairman. Then it’s up to councillors, if they propose second and vote for someone else, and that someone has the majority vote they become chairman. It will be evidenced, in bold, in standing orders, that election of chairman has to be the first item on the agenda,  therefore cannot be changed and your clerk should know that.

Answer 4

Some previous answers have addressed some of the complexities of the first business of an APM ie to elect a new chair, but none have addressed it fully…

To quote from SLCC Clerk’s Manual 2023 p117:

“…A retiring chair, who is remaining on the council, may usually vote [my insert - if they are not a candidate for chair for the new period] and must give a casting vote in the event of equality of votes - but they should not preside, or remain in the room or vote, if they are a candidate in the election [for chair - my insert] The retiring chair [if no longer a Cllr - my insert] may not vote initially in the election of a successor, if they are ceasing to be a member of the council, but a retiring chair always has a casting vote when electing a successor…”

Quite a lot of detail there and not very well expressed (IMO)

If NOT an election year (for the council) or if the previous chair IS re-elected to council in a council election year, then if they are a candidate to REMAIN as chair, they should not vote or remain in the room.
Well that must naturally extend to any other candidate for chair as well then - they should not vote nor remain in the room.
All clear….?

Comments

I have sort clarity on this and been advised it’s not a requirement for the chairman to leave the room and this did not appear in the draft version, no idea why it would appear in the printed version, I have left it with the SLCC to amend