Can a sub-Committee make dicisions with out involving the full parish council.

Question

Hello All

I’m interested to know if a sub-committee can make a decision and implement it without putting it before the full parish council first?

This has happened with our allotment sub-committee, they are also having this dicision written into the tenants agreement for next year, I was told this by a tenant, I being one of the councillors not on the committee new nothing about this, is it legal for them to do this?

Answer 1

In short yes BUT only if the committee Terms of Reference state this and has been agreed on by the full council. This would then be a delegated power.

A committee may not do something and then apply for retrospective permission afterwards. The initial decision would be null and void.

If the committee fail to stop acting outside of their agreed remit then the full council can dissolve the committee.

Hope this helps.

Comments

Quite right. And as most standing orders allow the appointment of a committee without the need for an agenda item, I'd take that to imply that dissolving a committee can also be done without prior notice.