COUNCIL MEETING 12 OCTOBER 2023
REVIEW OF COUNCIL POLICIES – STANDING ORDERS

1. The Council’s Standing Orders were last approved and adopted on 9 December 2021. They
are loosely based on a national model published by the National Association of Local
Councils with various amendments to have regard to the Council’s practice and procedures.

2. The Standing Orders have been reviewed by the Vice-Chairman and the Clerk who
consider them to be both sound and comprehensive following an extensive review in 2021.
Even so, in some respects a measure of updating would be beneficial and the reviewers
have sought to line them up more particularly with current good practice. A version of the
current Standing Orders with track changes is attached together with explanations for those
changes.

3. It is RECOMMENDED that the Standing Orders as amended be approved and adopted.

Graham White
Parish Clerk
5 October 2023

TRACK CHANGES

1.6 The reference to Standing Order 1.4 should be to 1.5

1.7 The reference to Standing Order 1.5 should be to 1.6

1.15 In the interests of gender neutrality ‘in his absence’ should be
replaced with ‘in the Chairman’s absence’

2.10.7
&
2.10.8
The order of these items should be reversed. At ordinary meetings
of the Council, the Correspondence is always dealt with before the
Planning as there is often correspondence about planning matters
which needs to be considered before the planning recommendation
is made.

2.10.9 Add ‘or reports from representatives on outside bodies’.

5.21 Typo – Line 5 Delete ‘ot’ insert ‘to a subsequent’

12.1

The question here is whether the Council wishes to delete the
second and third sentences of this Standing Order thereby enabling
a sitting Chairman to stand for election as Chairman in each year of
the four year Council term. The current Standing Order provides
that a Chairman may serve for only two consecutive years in any
one Council term. The argument in favour of amendment is that it
would enable a Chairman (if re-elected) to develop and oversee a
four year plan for the Council. The argument against is that there
should be the opportunity for other members to serve as Chairman

rather than just the sitting Chairman. In the past this Standing Order
has sometimes been suspended prior to the election of the
Chairman in the third and fourth year of a Council term thereby
enabling the sitting Chairman to stand for election.

13.6.2 The RFF Committee terms of reference were amended at the
Annual Council meeting in May 2023 and the new wording replaces
the old.

13.7 The EBNP Committee terms of reference were not included in the
current Standing Orders. The terms of reference approved at the
Annual Council meeting in May 2023 are now included.

13.7-
13.21
In consequence of the previous amendment, the numbering of
these paragraphs has been amended to 13.8-13.22.