1. At any meeting of the County Council, the Executive or the Standards Committee a member of the public who is a resident within the administrative area of the county of Devon may ask the Leader or the Chairman of the Standards Committee a question upon a matter which, in every case, relates to the functions of the Council.  In the case of the County Council and the Executive the Leader will decide who shall reply to any question of which notice has been given;

2. A person who wishes to attend a meeting for the purpose of paragraph (1) shall give notice in writing to the Chief Executive by 12 noon on the fourth working day before the relevant meeting and include in that notice the text of the question to which he or she wants a reply.

2.1 Notwithstanding the above, where a question relates to a matter which is included on the agenda for a meeting at which the question is to be put but that agenda or any Officers Report has not been made available before the normal deadline for submission of questions at 2 above then provided written notice of a question is received within 24 hours of that Agenda or Report having been so published then the question shall be allowed.

3. No person shall ask more than one question at any meeting of the Council, the Executive or the Standards Committee.  If either more than one question is received or a single question contains a number of component questions only the first question shall be accepted.

4. All questions received shall be printed in order of receipt and shall be circulated at the meeting together with the answers to those questions. No discussions will take place upon a reply except that a person who has submitted a question is entitled to ask one supplementary question arising from the answer given and to receive a further answer.

5. At meetings of the Council and its Executive answers to questions will be provided after consideration of all Framework, Key and other decisions and, at meetings of the Standards Committee, after all non-routine matters.  The time allowed for such answers shall not exceed 30 minutes.  This order of business may however be changed by the Chairman at his/her discretion.

6. If a question is not reached within the time limit, the reply which the Leader or Chairman would otherwise have given shall be published with the minutes of that meeting and with the archived recording of the webcast of that meeting.

7. If a questioner is unable to attend the meeting in person, the Chief Executive shall send the questioner the reply which the Leader or Chairman would otherwise have given.

8. If a question is unsuitable in form, frivolous or derogatory to the dignity of the Council, the Executive or the Committee or relates to a matter which should be considered in the absence of the press and public the Leader/Chairman shall have the right to rule a question out of order.

9. Questions may be submitted, in writing, or by fax or e-mail.

10. At any meeting of the Development Control Committee, an applicant, objector or supporter may make a presentation of up to three minutes relating to:

a planning application to be determined by that Committee;any consultation on a proposal by a Government Department; or a Review of an Old Minerals Permission application.

11. Any applicant, objector or supporter who wishes to make a presentation to the Development Control Committee must give notice of that intention, in writing, to the Chief Executive by 12 noon on the third working day before the relevant meeting of the Committee, indicating the application or proposal upon which he or she wishes to make a presentation.

12. Where, in the case of a planning application or a ROMP application, a number of objectors or supporters wish to make presentations, a representative shall be nominated by them to present the views of all the objectors or supporters. In such cases the identity of the spokesperson must also be made known to the Chief Executive prior to the start of the meeting. If necessary the Chief Executive will draw the attention of objectors or supporters to the need to nominate a single spokesperson.

13. Presentations will be strictly limited to three minutes and will be made only after a short introduction of the report by the County Environment Director. Applicants, objectors or supporters may not participate in the debate or ask questions of officers or Members.

13.1 if, for any reason, an application is to be considered by the Committee on more than one occasion then any person who wishes to make a presentation may do so only once and this procedure shall not apply where the Committee is considering a report of a site visit upon an application previously considered by the committee.

14. Where presentations are to be made by both an applicant and an objector on a particular application, they will be taken in that order, but if one decides not to participate the other will not be precluded from making a presentation.

15. At any meeting of a Highways and Traffic Orders Committee an objector or supporter may make a presentation of up to three minutes relating to any traffic regulation proposal to be considered by that Committee, at the meeting at which it is to be considered.

16. Any objector or supporter who wishes to make a presentation to a Highways and Traffic Orders Committee must give notice of that intention, in writing, to the Chief Executive by 12 noon on the third day before the relevant meeting of the Committee, indicating the proposal upon which he/she wishes to make a presentation.

17. Where a number of objectors or supporters wish to make a presentation, a representative shall be nominated by them to present the views of all the objectors or supporters.  In such cases the identity of the spokesperson must also be made known to the Chief Executive prior to the start of the meeting.  If necessary the Chief Executive will draw the attention of objectors or supporters to the need to nominate a single spokesperson.

18. Presentations will be strictly limited to three minutes and will be made only after a short introduction of the report by the Executive Director of  Environment, Economy & Culture.  Objectors or supporters may not participate in the debate or ask questions of officers or Members.

19. Where presentations are to be made by both an objector and a supporter on a particular proposal, they will be taken in that order, but if one decides not to participate the other will not be precluded from making a presentation.

20. At any meeting of the Public Rights of Way Committee an objector or supporter may make a presentation of up to three minutes relating to any Order relating to a proposal for a public path order to be considered by that Committee, at the meeting at which it is to be considered.

21. Any objector or supporter who wishes to make a presentation to the Public Rights of Way Committee must give notice of that intention, in writing, to the Chief Executive by 12 noon on the third working day before the relevant meeting of the Committee, indicating the proposal upon which he/she wishes to make a presentation.

22. Where a number of objectors or supporters wish to make presentations, a representative shall be nominated by them to present the views of all the objectors or supporters. In such cases the identity of the spokesperson must also be made known to the Chief Executive prior to the start of the meeting. If necessary the Chief Executive will draw the attention of objectors or supporters to the need to nominate a single spokesperson.

23. Presentations will be strictly limited to three minutes and will be made only after a short introduction of the report by the relevant Officer. Objectors or supporters may not participate in the debate or ask questions of officers or Members.

24. Where presentations are to be made by both an objector and a supporter on a particular proposal, they will be taken in that order, but if one decides not to participate the other will not be precluded from making a presentation.

25. As set out at Article 3 of this Constitution, and at any of these meetings, the Leader or Chairman may also receive petitions from members of the public before responding to any questions received which will be dealt with in accordance with the Council’s Working Practices (Part 10 of the Constitution).

26. Detailed advice for the public on the operation of these schemes is set out in the leaflet entitled "Having Your Say: Public Participation at Committee Meetings" which includes details of the contact number and relevant addresses.

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