Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny Committees
Dover District Council
is, from 1 April 2009, introducing the opportunity for members
of the public to speak at meetings of the Council's Overview
and Scrutiny Committees in respect of items on the agenda.
This will apply to meetings of the Scrutiny (Policy and
Performance) Committee and the Scrutiny (Community and
Regeneration) Committee.
Who Can Speak?
Anyone who lives or works in the Dover
District Council administrative area, including Town / Parish
Councillors and County Councillors, are entitled to speak at a
scheduled meeting of one of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny
Committees, subject to he or she being present at the meeting when
the Chairman of the committee calls upon them to speak. In the
event that a person aged under 16 years of age wishes to speak at a
committee meeting they must be accompanied by an
adult.
How Long Do I Have To Speak?
Each speaker will have three
minutes speaking time per item they have registered to speak on and
no public speaker or parish council may register to speak on any
more than two items on the agenda.
A maximum of thirty minutes will be
allocated for public speaking at the meeting. In the event there
are insufficient speakers registered to fill the allotted thirty
minutes, the public speaking time will be ended after the final
registered speaker has spoken.
What Can I Speak On At The Meeting?
A member of the public speaking on
an agenda item must address their speech to the item they have
registered to speak upon on the agenda and cannot address other
agenda items or unrelated business. The right of the public
to speak, or indeed to attend, does not apply to business on the
agenda in respect of which a resolution to exclude the press and
public for the consideration of confidential or exempt business has
been carried.
What Can't I Speak On At The
Meeting?
The right of the public to speak
does not apply to the following agenda items: Apologies;
Appointment of Substitute Members; Minutes; the Forward Plan, the
Scrutiny Work Programme, any agenda item that is not
accompanied by a written report or any agenda item for which the
Chairman has exercised her or his discretion to withdraw the right
of public speaking.
The Chairman of the
committee will have the discretion to stop a speaker
before their allotted time has concluded if in the Chairman’s view
the speaker is making any comments that are, or appear to be,
defamatory, vexatious, discriminatory, contain offensive language,
are contrary to the procedures laid out in the public
speaking protocol, are unrelated to the agenda item under
consideration, or behaviour otherwise not appropriate for an
Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.
The right to speak does not include
the right to ask any questions of any District Councillor, Officer
of the Council, invited attendee, or any other public speaker.
How Do I Register to Speak?
The agendas for Overview and
Scrutiny Committee meetings are published on the Council's
website five working days before the date of the meeting.
Members of the public who wish to register to speak at meetings of
the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees should apply in
writing using the designated application form by no later than
2.00pm on the second working day before the meeting. Any requests
received after this time will automatically be rejected. In
addition, no request to speak will be accepted prior to the
publication of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agenda.
Those members of the public who are
successful in registering to speak will be advised on the working
day before the meeting. Further details on how the public speaking
process operates can be found in the overview and
scrutiny public speaking protocol.
If you have any
questions concerning public speaking at a meeting of one of
the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees please contact Ms
Rebecca Brough, Democratic Support Officer on
the telephone and e-mail address below for
further details.
Contact Scrutiny
Telephone: 01304 872304
E-mail: scrutiny@dover.gov.uk
