possibly removed from council days after election

Question

Interesting one, ive just become a district Councillor that part is fine. But been a town Councillor for many years.

We didnt have enough Councillor to stand to trigger an election so all Councillor were elected automatically.

But ive just been speaking with Democratic services who have had an email from the clerk of our council.

Explaining that ive lost my seat and a vacancy has arisen. The election ls were on the 5th the 6th and 7th were weekend and 8th way the coronation our agm was the 9th which i sent apologies for as had prior commitments. The officer who people knowing my posts on here has always had some form or gripe has now said because i disnt attend the AGM i have been removed due to not signing the declaration before the Agm took place.

They did not contact me to say i need to rush in to sign anything they could have sent it via email and id have happily signed and returned it before the AGM but this seems just another issue of trying to get those who question council off the council. What are my options here. The legislation does say has to be signed before the AGM but normally agms are couple days weeks after an election.

Answer 1

I believe theat after noting your apologies, the other Councillors could have been asked at the meeting to agree to allow you to sign the declaration before the next meeting. Do you know if they were asked and what was resolved?

Comments

Ive checked with others who were present it was not mentioned, I also checked with the monitoring officer who stated this is what should have happened but they cant get involved in parish council issues unless a code of conduct

Answer 2

The annual meeting of the council must take place on the day that councillors take office (this year on 9th May) or within 14 days thereof and councillors must sign their Declaration of Acceptance of Office at or before the first meeting (in practice that must be before in order for the meeting to be quorate) with the signature being in front of the clerk or another councillor.  So, in the first instance, holding a meeting on the 9th, whilst legal for an uncontested election where papers can be served on known councillors, is quite early.  For those who are not able to attend and/or do not attend, it is possible for the council to resolve to allow signature of a Declaration of Acceptance of Office at a later date, which is usually before the next council meeting.  This suggests your council did not do that.   There is nothing to stop you putting yourself forward for election (if a new election is triggered - check with your elections office) or for co-option.

Answer 3

Did you receive a summons to attend the meeting?

Comments

Yes before the elections and sent my apologies explaining i could not attend the AGM that was the last correspondence i had until soeaking with the monitoring officer today the clerk has not contacted me to even let me know if i have or have not been removed they have only contacted Democratic services to say there is another vacancy.

---

I would contend that the 4th day AFTER an election held on 4th May is the 10th May and that therefore a meeting held on the 9th May was premature.  My reasoning is that the 1st day is Friday 5th May, the second day is Saturday 6th May, the third day is Tuesday 9th May (ie. discounting the Sunday and the bank holiday Monday), and the 4th day is the 10th.  I'm not absolutely certain about this and would be interested in what other contributors think.

---

NALC have confirmed that for uncontested elections the first meeting can be the 9th of May, that being the day they officially take office

Answer 4

Interesting….

“They” have tucked you up - but you have allowed them to.
Whether their ploy is valid or otherwise I’m not sure but if you’d taken responsibility for your declaration of acceptance they couldn’t have done it.
That said, what you need to work out is who “they” are and if they treated everyone equitably - ie was a Cllr plus the clerk involved which would determine if a professional complaint against the clerk and / or a CoC complaint against any Cllr might be appropriate (this might apply if they contacted / coaches everybody else except you.
Best bet - just put your co-option papers in. If they were insufficient candidates previously, likely there still will be. Not fool proof but entertaining if all they have actually achieved is to create more work for the same outcome