Annual Parish Meetings - ok to postpone?

Question

Can I clarify whether the legislation covering the postponement of the Annual Parish Council Meeting (APCM) also applies to the Annual Parish Meeting (APM) ? I saw in an earlier thread that it was a legal requirement to hold an APM each year.

Answer 1

I understand that the Annual Parish Meeting is held in an area where there is less than 150 electorate and they don't wish to have a Parish Council, if so then the Annual Parish Meeting has NOT been exempted so has to still meet.  (APM)

Conversely, if a parish (no matter it size) opts to have a Parish Council, then their Annual Parish Council meeting has been put off to next year. (APCM)

It is an issue that has been raised with the Government back on 2 April 2020 by NALC

NALC Letter 2 April 2020

Down_here

Answer 2

The Annual Parish Meeting is the annual meeting of the electorate of the parish - it is not a parish council meeting per se, and it must be held between 1st March and 1st June each year.  This meeting can be called by the Chair, 2 councillors or 6 electors.  At this time, there has been no change in legal provision for this meeting so it cannot be held virtually.  Therefore with the restrictions on social gathering, the ability to have this meeting has been curtailed.  There is actually no legal requirement for parish councils to call this meeting as it is a gathering of the electorate facilitated by the parish council (normally), which is why it has not been included in the Covid legislation.

The Annual Parish Council Meeting is the annual meeting of the parish council where the Chair is elected for the next year, and, alongside other things, membership of committees is agreed.  It is a requirement in law that this meeting takes place in May and is one of the 4 meetings that must be legally held in one year.  The Covid legislation has allowed this and other parish council meetings to be held virtually OR, if the council decides, provision has been made in the law to postpone this meeting until May 2021.

Hope this helps

Comments

Thanks for those replies and particularly to MrsAbster for clarifying the situation perfectly. Thanks also to Down_here but you seemed to suggest that the Annual Parish Meeting could only take place where there wasn't a Parish Council. But both the Parish Councils I work for also hold Annual Parish Meetings.

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Parish Council elected to set up a Pandemic Crisis Management Team. The Mayor and Deputy did not ask councillors for nominations, instead the Mayor proposed the team of 5 which included herself and her Deputy, this was seconded by the deputy and duly approved by those who voted. The PCMT have been conducting the Business of the Council as the 5 see fit without any consultation with the other 8 members apart from voting on planning decisions, which we have been asked for a comment for the Member of the PCMT to consider in her recommendation for us to then vote on. I will not participate on something which there is no proper discussion on, therefore I did not vote at all. The Clerk produced a record of the applications where she recorded me as abstaining, when I queried this prior to the meeting via emails she replied a no vote is an abstention!!  As a Member of a group of 3 who reviewed Standing Orders, Financial Regs and code of conduct prior to and during the covid-19 I have asked if these documents would be considered via Zoom meetings, I have been informed by the Clerk we are only dealing with urgent business, yet the staffing committee and PCMT are making decisions via Zoom meetings including debrief of the Full Council Zoom meetings and the frequency as well as agreeing spending and where unspent funds should be allocated. Advice please.