Purpose of an Annual Meeting of the Parish before an Ordinary Parish Council Meeting

Question

Hi

What is the purpose of a Parish Council convening an Annual Meeting of the Parish just before an Ordinary Parish Council Meeting?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Sam

Answer 1

It is a legal requirement that each year the annual parish meeting (APM) is held and in law is "for the purpose of discussing parish affairs", in which all members of the parish are equal to councillors. - The Chair takes questions from electors (you cannot speak if you are not a registered elector of the Parish).

The purpose is for the chairman to give a review of the year and for the Clerk / Finance Officer to announce the revenue / spending and to take questions.
This is separate from the Annual Meeting  of the Parish Council (AMPC) - where councillors sit and vote, which is to elect the Chairman and renew policies, in our case we do the APM at 6pm and the AMPC at 7pm on the same night. The AMPC elected a new Chairman, policies, committee memberships and anything else that is normally conducted in a Parish Council meeting.

Many parishes then invite community groups to give an update of their year at the APM, in our case we invite groups that have received a grant to explain to the public what they have done with the money and how it has (positively) impacted on the parish.

Comments

Many thanks somebodyelse for your explicit response.

Answer 2

Often, an Annual Meeting of the Parish is held just before the Annual meeting of the Parish (or Town) Council, often incorrectly referred to as the "AGM" rather than before an "Ordinary " meeting.  The purpose is as described by somebodyelse.

Comments

Thanks Graeme_r.