a. Notice of a meeting

Parish council meetings are subject to statutory requirements that govern how they must be convened and conducted.  For example, sufficient notice of a meeting must be given to the public and council members alike, and a meeting can only consider items included on the agenda sent with the notice to members. 

Para 10, Schedule 12, Local Government Act, 1972 ( use this link to to access details on legisaltion.gov.uk ) requires that there must be at least three clear days’ public notice of the time and place of a meeting of the full council and its agenda . The meaning of “clear days” excludes the day on which notice was issued and the day of the meeting. A Sunday, a day of the Christmas break, a day of the Easter break, a bank holiday or a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning do not count when calculating three clear days. 

Normally, notice of the time and venue of a meeting must be fixed in a conspicuous place in the parish – often a local notice board. Additionally, the  Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities   (paragraphs 10 and 30) requires councils (with a turnover of £25,000 or less) to publish not less than three days before the meeting the agendas and supporting papers on its website.

Public notice would not be required if all the business to be transacted was of a confidential nature, or there was another special reason that would justify excluding the public under s.1, Public Bodies (admission to Meetings) Act 1960.

A councillor must be summoned to attend a meeting of the full council at least three clear days (as defined above) before the meeting. The summons, signed by the Proper Officer, must include an agenda for the meeting and be served at the usual residence of the councillor. It is accepted practice for standing orders to permit electronic service of the summons and agenda at least three clear days before a meeting provided the email to councillors includes the electronic signature and title of the Proper Officer.  

Meetings will normally be held weekday evenings, they can be held at weekends but this is not common. Meetings of the whole council (often referred to as ‘full council’) should generally not exceed 1 to 2 hours. Long meetings can inconvenience councillors and are likely to discourage attendance by the public. A meeting of a committee or a sub-committee should generally be shorter than a meeting of the full council because it has less business to deal with. A council can use standing orders to confirm the duration of meetings of the whole council, committees and sub-committees

Extraordinary meetings

The rules are the same as above, except for when an extraordinary meeting has been called by two councillors (because a Chair has refused/failed to convene one upon request ) the notice must be signed by those councillors, and must specify the business to be transacted.

Committee meetings

Providing a council’s standing orders allow it, the law only requires notice to be given at the time a committee meeting is called – in other words it is possible to hold a committee meeting the same day a need is identified, providing notice is given at that time.

Sub-committees are not required by law to be held in public, but it is recommended that they are and that the same notice is given as for committees. This would not apply where the public would be excluded for the entire agenda, for example for a staffing sub-committee.

See SALC quick guide to  Committee Requirements.