The first part of an agenda follows a standard pattern with\u00a0Members being asked to approve the minutes of the previous\u00a0meeting. Members can only question the accuracy of the\u00a0minutes but not raise matters that were discussed previously.<\/p>\n
The next item is one that enables the Chair to raise matters\u00a0that are not included on the agenda – if they are important or\u00a0urgent enough. It is the Chair\u2019s decision alone.<\/p>\n
After dealing with those items the Chair will move on to\u00a0the other items on the agenda, dealing with each in turn. At\u00a0meetings of the Cabinet and Committees, the appropriate\u00a0Officer will introduce the item and then there will be general\u00a0discussion on that subject (known as a debate).<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Chair\u2019s job is to ensure that there is an orderly\u00a0discussion and that a decision is taken. A decision may be\u00a0made on the basis of an Officer\u2019s recommendation (as set out\u00a0 in any written report or made at the meeting) or on the basis\u00a0of a suggestion made by a Member at the meeting.<\/p>\n
The way\u00a0in which decisions are taken at meetings often seems\u00a0complex but as with most things it is not too difficult to\u00a0understand if you know what is happening. The following\u00a0paragraphs attempt to explain how things are done.\u00a0At a Scrutiny Committee, there will be fewer items of\u00a0business.<\/p>\n
The Committee will receive presentations from one\u00a0or more invited \u201cwitnesses\u201d (who may be Council officers or\u00a0outsiders with expertise to contribute). Then Members of\u00a0the Committee will ask questions on what has been said.\u00a0Once it has heard all the witnesses, which may take more\u00a0than one meeting, the Committee will consider what it has\u00a0heard and decide what recommendations should be made to\u00a0the Cabinet or Council.<\/p>\n
When a Member makes a recommendation (known as a\u00a0Motion or Proposition) the Chair will ask Members to\u00a0debate it. When, in the view of the Chair, there has been\u00a0 sufficient discussion, the Member who moved the motion will\u00a0be given the chance to speak again.\u00a0This is known as \u201creplying\u00a0to the debate\u201d.<\/p>\n
Immediately after that Member has spoken,\u00a0the Chair will ask the Members to vote.Any motion must\u00a0be formally \u201cseconded\u201d by another Member before it can be\u00a0voted upon. However it is often the case that during a debate\u00a0on a motion another Member will suggest that it should be\u00a0altered in some way, perhaps by adding or taking out words\u00a0(an \u201camendment\u201d). If this happens the meeting will also have\u00a0to discuss the amendment. At the end of that debate the\u00a0member who suggested the amendment will also be given\u00a0the chance to speak – to \u201creply to the debate\u201d – followed\u00a0immediately by the mover of the original motion. \u00a0Only one\u00a0amendment can be dealt with at a time. If an amendment is\u00a0agreed or carried it then becomes a substantive motion (the\u00a0original motion is considered to have been defeated) to\u00a0which further amendments may be made. If the amendment\u00a0is not agreed then the meeting will vote on the original\u00a0proposal.<\/p>\n
There may, of course, then be further amendments.\u00a0Decisions can be reached by agreement or by a formal show\u00a0of hands.They are then recorded in the minutes, which go on\u00a0to the County Council.<\/p>\n
Some Members speak more often than others. This is\u00a0because the political parties on the Council often appoint\u00a0lead members or \u201cspokespersons\u201d who will take the lead in\u00a0any discussions at the relevant meeting.<\/p>\n
Meetings are conducted according to the Council\u2019s Standing\u00a0Orders set out in the Constitution, a set of rules and\u00a0procedures to make sure business is done properly, fairly and\u00a0in an orderly way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":748,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tb_guide":[1316],"class_list":["post-815","tb_guides","type-tb_guides","status-publish","hentry","tb_guide-a-guide-to-committee-meetings"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/guides\/815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/guides"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tb_guides"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/748"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/guides\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6186,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/guides\/815\/revisions\/6186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tb_guide","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tb_guide?post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}