STANDING ORDERS & CODE OF CONDUCT

September 2006

STANDING ORDERS (24 - 32)

QUESTIONS

24. A Member may ask the Chairman any question concerning the business of the Council.

25. A Member with or without notice may ask the Chairman of a Committee any question upon the proceedings of the Committee then before the Council if the question is put before the Council’s consideration of those proceedings is finalised.

26. Every question shall be put and answered without discussion.

27. A person to whom a question has been put may decline to answer.

RULES OF DEBATE

28. No discussion shall take place upon the Minutes except upon their accuracy. Corrections to the Minutes shall be made by resolution and must be initialled by the Chairman.

29. (a) A resolution or amendment shall not be discussed unless it has been proposed and seconded, and unless proper notice has already been given, it shall, if required by the Chairman, be reduced to writing and handed to him before it is further discussed or put to the Meeting.

(b) A Member when seconding a resolution or amendment may, if he then declares his intention to do so, reserve his speech until a later period of the debate.

(c) A member shall direct his speech to the question under discussion or to a personal explanation or to a question of order.

(d) No speech by a mover of a resolution shall exceed 3 minutes and no other speech shall exceed 3 minutes except by consent of the Council.

(e) An amendment shall be either:-

(i) To leave out words,
(ii) To leave out words and insert others
(iii) To insert or add words.

(f) An amendment shall not have the effect of negativing the resolution before the Council.

(g) If an amendment be carried, the resolution, as amended, shall take the place of the original resolution and shall become the resolution upon which any further amendment may be moved.

(h) A further amendment shall not be moved until the Council has disposed of every amendment previously moved.

(i) The mover of a resolution or of an amendment shall have a right of reply, not exceeding 3 minutes.

(j) A Member, other than the mover of a resolution, shall not, without leave of the Council, speak more than once on any resolution except to move an amendment or further amendment, or on an amendment, or on a point of order, or in personal explanation, or to move the closure.

(k) A Member may speak on points of order or on personal explanations as set out in (i) and (ii) below. A member speaking for these purposes shall be heard forthwith.

(l) A motion or amendment may be withdrawn by the proposer with the consent of the Council, which shall be signified without discussion, and no Member may speak upon it after permission has been asked for its withdrawal unless such permission has been refused.

(m) When a resolution is under debate no other resolution shall be moved except the following:-

[i]      to amend the resolution;

[ii]     to proceed to the next business (refer to Standing Order No 32);

[iii]     to adjourn the debate (refer to Standing Order No 32);

[iv]    that the question be now put (refer to Standing Order No 32);

[v]     that a Member named be not further heard:

[vi]    that a Member named do leave the Meeting;

[vii]    that the resolution be referred to a Committee;

[viii]   to exclude the Public and Press :

[ix]    to adjourn the Meeting.

(n) There shall be no further discussion once the vote on a resolution has been taken.

30. A Member shall stand when speaking unless permitted by the Chairman to sit on account of infirmity.

31. (a) The ruling of the Chairman on a point of order or on the admissibility of a personal explanation shall not be discussed.

(b) Any member of the Council shall have the right to challenge the Chairman’s ruling, at which point an immediate vote on the chairman’s ruling will be taken.

(c) Members shall address the Chairman.

(d) If two or more Members rise, the Chairman shall call upon one of them to speak and the others shall resume their seats.

(e) Whenever the Chairman rises during a debate all other Members shall be seated and silent.

CLOSURE

32. At the end of any speech a Member may, without comment, move “that the question be now put”, “that the debate be now adjourned” or “that the Council do now adjourn”. If such motion is seconded and if the Chairman is of the opinion that the question before the Council has been sufficiently debated (but not otherwise), he shall forthwith put the motion. If the motion “that the question be now put” is carried, he shall call upon the mover to exercise or waive his right of reply and shall put the question immediately after the right has been exercised or waived. The adjournment of a debate or of the Council shall not prejudice the mover’s right of reply at the resumption.

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