Contact: Colin Hinxman - 01962 847343; e-mail - [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1. The County Council has operated a deputation procedure for the past 10 years. It gives the opportunity for interested members of the public to make their views known on issues of concern. This report deals with some areas of the deputation procedure which have given rise to problems or where interpretations have differed. It incorporates ideas which emerged from the recent best value review of democratic services. Standing Order 21 is set out at the Appendix to this report for ease of reference.

2. Factsheet 2

2.1. The opportunity is being taken to ensure that the information given in factsheet 2 is consistent with the Standing Order. In particular the factsheet has been clarified to specify that for County Council meetings 10 clear days notice must be given; and 3 clear days notice for all other Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel meetings. In line with the County Council's decision in November 2002, this means that weekends and bank holidays are excluded from the calculation. For example a request for a deputation relating to a meeting to be held on Tuesday would have to be received by the preceding Wednesday. A deputation to the County Council meeting on a Thursday would have to be received by the Wednesday two weeks beforehand. It is hoped that this clarification will avoid any doubt or ambiguity in future.

2.2. Following the amendment of factsheet, the opportunity is also being taken to include a link from the factsheet by which people wishing to notify a deputation can do so electronically. This will help reduce paperwork and contribute to the County Council's commitment to E-Government.

3. Numbers of Deputations

3.1. Standing Order 21(e) provides that the total time allocated for deputations should not exceed one hour. However it does sometimes happen that more than six deputations are received and practice has varied. Some Committees decide to extend the time available to allow all deputations to speak for up to 10 minutes; others scale down the amount of time allowed in order to keep deputations to the duration specified. Some consistency in approach could be beneficial here, because deputations may be disadvantaged if they are given the impression that they have 10 minutes to make their point, and then on arrival at the meeting discover that there is a total of 12 deputations notified and that all of them are reduced to 5 minutes only. The Committee is asked to consider whether the one-hour duration for deputations should be rigorously enforced; whether they wish to have any alternative regulation setting time limits for large numbers of deputations; or whether they feel that pragmatism on the day should govern the way forward.

4. Practical Issues

4.1. The note set out at the end of Standing Order 21 provides that elected members (including those of other councils) trade unions and members of staff will not be received as deputations. Members of deputations must also be County Council voters. These provisos are made clear in the letters which are sent to deputations, but sometimes it emerges when a deputation arrives that some of its members may be disqualified. For example they may live just across the county boundary and are therefore not on the electoral register for Hampshire; they may be school students and therefore not on the electoral register as they are under 18; or possibly it may emerge at the meeting that a deputation member is an elected parish councillor or district councillor. It is often clear at an early stage that people are disqualified from being part of deputations, but the Committee may wish to consider whether they wish the Standing Order to be enforced rigidly or to continue to allow some flexibility where circumstances on the day so decree.

5. The Six Month Rule

5.1. Standing Order 21(f) has given rise to occasional difficulties of interpretation. The intention since the inception of the deputation procedure in 1993 has been that, once a deputation has had its say, then it may not reappear before the County Council or at any Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel meeting within six months so as to allow others the opportunity. A recommended clarification is set out below given that, in special circumstances, the Standing Order may be suspended to allow a further opportunity for people to speak even if they have been a deputation in the preceding six months.

6. Specific Planning Applications

6.1. There are some inconsistencies between Standing Order 21 and the procedures which have been developed by the former Planning and Transportation Committee (now the Regulatory Committee) in dealing with specific planning applications. When Regulatory Committee considers such planning applications, it is often elected members of district or parish councils who wish to take part in deputations in a personal capacity. This falls outside the ambit of the Standing Order on deputations. However in January 1999 the former Planning and Transportation Committee adopted a local code of conduct on planning applications, which states "at a meeting of the Planning and Transportation Committee (now the Regulatory Committee) an applicant/agent and interested parties will be allowed to address the meeting for up to a maximum of 10 minutes.

6.2. This provision is intended to apply to the consideration of specific planning applications only. There is no requirement for either the applicant, their agent or any other interested party to be a local government elector for the administrative county. Natural justice means that all parties interested in a planning application should have an equal opportunity to make representations to the authority and not simply those who are local government electors in the county. It therefore follows that, when the Regulatory Committee is considering specific planning applications, then elected members of parish and district councils should be allowed to take part in deputations made in a personal capacity on specific planning applications in their locality. For the avoidance of doubt the Committee may consider that this should be reflected in the Standing Order, and a recommendation to that effect is set out below.

That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the County Council

1. That the Committee consider what, if any, change in Standing Order 21 they wish to recommend to the Council, to cover the circumstances referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 above.


2. That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the County Council

That Standing Order 21(f) be amended to read as follows:

(f) Any deputation which has appeared before the Council, or at any
Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel established by the Council,
shall not reappear at any such meeting within a period of six months,
on the same or similar topic.


3. That in considering specific planning applications, the practice of the Regulatory Committee be endorsed in giving precedence to the provisions of the local Code of Conduct for Councillors and officers dealing with planning matters adopted by the former Planning and Transportation Committee on 25 January 1999, (or any similar code which may subsequently be adopted) wherever these differ from the County Council's Standing Orders, and that accordingly elected members of parish and district councils be allowed to make deputations in a personal capacity upon specific planning matters in their locality.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1 Published works.

2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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APPENDIX

21. *Deputations

Subject to the provisions of this Standing Order, the Council, and the committees, sub-committees and panels of the Council, shall receive deputations on any business that is properly within its terms of reference and the deputation shall (subject to formal moving, seconding and adoption of the proposal) be allowed to address the meeting.

For the purposes of this Standing Order:

(a) notice in writing shall be given to the Chief Executive that a deputation wishes to address the meeting and the notice shall specify the subject on which the deputation wishes to speak. In the case of a Council meeting, the notice shall be given at least 10 clear days in advance. In the case of other meetings, the notice shall be given at least three clear days in advance and must relate to a matter being considered by the committee or sub-committee or panel at that meeting

(b) deputations shall consist of not more than four people who shall (except in the case of a deputation to the Regulatory Committee when it is exercising a planning function) be local government electors for the administrative County

(c) any member of a deputation may address the meeting

(d) the total time taken by the deputation in addressing the meeting shall not exceed 10 minutes

(e) deputations shall be taken at the beginning of the meeting (after the minutes) and the total time shall not exceed one hour in duration

(f) no deputation shall appear before the Council at successive meetings, or at any committee or sub-committee or panel of that committee, within six months of any previous appearance, on the same or similar topic

(g) a deputation to a meeting of a committee or sub-committee or standing panel must relate to an item on the agenda

(h) no discussion shall take place with the presenters of a deputation but the Chairman of the meeting may inform the deputation how, if at all, the matter will be dealt with by noting, action or referral. At a meeting of the full Council, the Chairman may invite the appropriate committee chairman to give this information to the deputation.

(Note: The purpose of Standing Order 21 is to give members of the public an opportunity to address the Council, its committees or sub-committees or standing panels. Elected members (including those of other Councils), trade unions and members of staff have other opportunities to bring matters to the Council's attention and will not be received under the provision of Standing Order 21. To avoid doubt, this Standing Order does not apply to meetings of the Executive.

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