Public Questions at Council
Members of the Public may ask a question to a Cabinet member at ordinary Council meetings. This excludes Annual Meetings and Extraordinary meetings.
Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received, unless the Chairman has decided to group together similar questions.
Each questioner will have up to 3 minutes to ask their question which must be asked exactly as it is submitted on the application form.
In addition, the questioner is entitled to ask a supplementary question without notice of the councillor who answered their original question. This question must arise directly out of the original question or the reply given. The Chairman may reject a supplementary question if it fails to meet the rules for questions.
A total of 15 minutes is provided for public questions at each meeting.
Scope of the question
Your question may be rejected if:
- It is not about a matter for which the Council has responsibility or affects the district
- It is defamatory, frivolous or offensive
- It is substantially the same as a question which has been put to a meeting of the Council in the past 6 months
- It requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information
- It relates to a personal issue or an individual case
Do I need to be at the meeting to ask my question?
If you are unable to attend the meeting you may request that the question is asked on your behalf by the Chairman of the Council. The Chairman will decide whether she or he will accept your request. The Chairman may decide that a written answer is to be provided or that the question will not be dealt with. Questions that are not dealt with may be submitted again to a future meeting of the full Council.
Who are the Cabinet?
The Cabinet, which includes the Leader of the Council, is the Executive, or decision-making body, of the Council. The Cabinet consists of up to ten councillors, who are appointed by the Leader. Each member of the Cabinet has responsibility for one or more areas of Council work (known as ‘portfolios’), such as environment, transport, etc. The Cabinet’s role is to make decisions on day-to-day matters, consistent with the Council’s overall policies and budget.
Application
Your Application must be submitted no later than 5pm on the eighth clear working day before the date of the scheduled meeting of the full Council.
Privacy Statement
To provide this service Dover District Council will collect and process personal information. We may check some of the information with other sources (e.g. government departments and other councils) to verify your identity and ensure that the information you have provided is accurate.
Your personal information is being processed because it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.
Please refer to our Corporate Privacy Notice for further details on how we process your personal information and your rights. This is also available in other formats (e.g. print).
Apply for a Question to be asked at a Council meeting »