Councillor resignation

Question

It was overheard that one of our Councillors resigned a few months ago. There is no word of it anywhere the only sign being her removal from the website. Is there a procedure to be followed to recruit? My email and verbal enquiry was not answered. Thank you.

Answer 1

The council must notify the elections officer of the district council immediately. The elections officer will publish a statutory notice of vacancy which must be displayed on notice boards and websites (both district and parish council). The notice will explain that there is a period of 14 working days during which ten or more electors may petition for a public election to be held to fill the vacancy. If, after this period has elapsed, no petition has been received, the parish council may fill the vacancy by co-option, which it should do at the earliest opportunity. This is usually taken to mean that it must be advertised locally (the district council has no involvement in the co-option process) and included on the agenda for each meeting and that, if a person expresses a willingness to stand, they should be co-opted unless there is a very good reason not to. There are no legislative requirements regarding the process of co-option, so it is up to the council to determine how it will proceed if more than one candidate is identified, but all candidates must be treated equally.

Comments

I  have an assonated enquiry . I believe resignations are only valid if  physically conveyed to the Chairman. In a local case the resignation was handed to a fellow Councillor who obviously then contacted the Councillor and talked them out of it. Should the fellow Councillor have handed it to the Chairman or is the onus always with the resigning Cllr ?

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Section 84 states:-

A person elected to any office under this Act may at any time resign his office by written notice delivered—

(a) except in a case falling within paragraph (b), (c) or (d) below, to the proper officer of the council;

(b) in the case of a person elected to a corporate office in a London borough, to the proper officer of the borough;

(c) in the case of a parish or community councillor, to the chairman of the parish or community council;

(d) in the case of a chairman of a parish or community council or of a parish meeting, to the council or the meeting, as the case may be;

and his resignation shall take effect upon the receipt of the notice by the person or body to whom it is required to be delivered.