Guide to County Council Meetings
Minutes | Deputations | Communications from the Chairman | Reports from the Leader | Questions | Appointments to Committees and Outside Bodies | Reports of Committees | Notices of Motion
The County Council meets four times a year; its Committees and Sub-Committees meet more frequently. The February meeting of the County Council sets the budget for the next financial year. The May meeting is the Annual Meeting, when the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the County Council are chosen.
The procedure for debates in the County Council is governed by Standing Orders. The Council may decide to suspend or vary Standing Orders for a particular debate.
Before the formal meeting starts, Members may attend a short service of prayer.
The agenda for the meeting is set out on the blue pages of the White Book. Copies of the White Book are available in the public gallery. There is usually a Council officer in the gallery; if you have any questions about the meeting, please ask.
| Minutes |
The first item of business is always the confirmation of the minutes of the last meeting. If there are corrections to the minutes, such as the omission of a name of a Member, these can be taken; but Members may not raise other matters from the minutes.
Deputations may address the County Council on any matter within the Council's responsibilities. If you would like to know how to apply, ask for the County Council's leaflet Having Your Say which is available from HCC Information Centres.
The County Council's Standing Orders allow the Chairman to give the County Council any information which he thinks they should have. This includes news such as the award of honours, sporting successes of Hampshire residents or teams, and matters affecting Members past and present.
Standing Orders allow the Leader of the Council to report on matters he wishes to bring before the Council.
Any member of the Council can give notice of a question to a Committee Chairman on matters relating to the business of the Council. The question must not related to a matter which is already on the Council's agenda.
Members may ask one supplementary question after the Committee Chairman has replied. This must be a question, not a comment or debate.
There is a time limit of 30 minutes for questions. If the time runs out before all questions have been answered, written replies are given later.
There is a procedure for asking emergency questions without notice, but this has only rarely been used.
This item allows changes in the membership of Committees and in the representation of the County Council on outside bodies.
The Council now receives the reports of its Committees. These are set out in the White Book. Each Committee's report is divided into two sections: Part I and Part II.
Part I reports are matters for decision by the County Council, and they will contain a formal recommendation. These are marked in the White Book by a black line in the margin. Part II reports are the way in which Committees keep the Council informed of significant matters which they have dealt with under their delegated powers.
Amendments can be made to Part I items, but not to Part II reports. Amendments must be moved and seconded.
The Council always deal with reports of the Policy and Resources Committee first, then with the other Committees. The order is shown in the White Book. The Council deals with all the Part I reports first, then with any Notices of Motion, then the report of the Hampshire Police Authority, then with the Part II reports.
The Chairman of each Committee presents the Committee's report. The Chairman of the Council then calls the paragraph numbers. Members may put questions to the Chairman of the appropriate Committee on any item as the paragraph numbers are called. When questions have been dealt with, Members may ask for a debate.
The Council generally debates the report and any amendments to it at the same time. At the end of the debate, the Council votes on amendments in the order in which they were moved. If they all fail, the original recommendation is put to the Council. If an amendment is carried, it becomes the substantive motion. It is put to the Council and, if carried, becomes the decision of the Council.
Notices of motion are dealt with after the Part I reports and before the part II reports. Any Member of the Council can put down a motion for a meeting of the County Council. Motions may either be dealt with there and then or referred without debate to the appropriate Committee, which will consider the motion and report back to the Council at a future meeting. Motions which are being reported back to the Council by a Committee appear first on the agenda, followed by new notices of motion.
Members may proposed amendments to motions which appear on the agenda for debate. Amendments must be moved and seconded. Debates on notices of motion follow the same procedure as for debates on Part I reports (see above).
For further information contact the Committee Services Manager, Chief Executive's Department (01962-847330).
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