VOTING ON RESOLUTIONS

Question

Is it possible due to various declarations of interest to have a resolution put to just one voting Cllr? I suppose if so its not a majority ?

Answer 1

Where a councillor has a declared interest which prevents him/her voting, that individual is not counted as "present and voting" for the purposes of that agenda item.  So, if say your quorum is 3 and you have 3 councillors in attendance and one has declared an interest preventing them from voting, you have no quorum for that agenda item so there can be no resolution.  In such circumstances, it may be prudent to grant a dispensation to that councillor to allow the business of the council to be carried out.  If appropriate you could defer a decision to the next meeting.

If, on the other hand, you technically only have one vote for a resolution because everyone else has abstained, then that one vote carries the resolution.  Frankly, abstentions are pointless.

Answer 2

It depends on several factors. What does your standing orders say regarding the ability to vote having declared an interest i.e. whether it bans the declarer from taking part in the discussion and/or voting. Whether the rules on being quorate apply to voting on a proposal. Check out you rules.

Comments

Standing orders cannot override the law or the Code of Conduct that councillors will have signed up to when taking office.

Better to check the Code of Conduct rather than standing orders.

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Agreed, both need to be read together as in many cases the standing orders cover matters not defined in the coc and reflect how the PC decide to carry out their work.