Attending a committee meeting

Members of the public and representatives of organisations or groups may register for Public Question Time. District Councillors may not register for Public Question time unless they are acting in their private capacity or acting as a Ward Member .

No, no person, organisation or group may submit more than one question or statement.

Yes, but due to the limited time available for Public Question Time we would ask that your client does not register separately as this will limit the availability of Public Question Time for others.

Public Question Time is a maximum period of 30 minutes and to ensure fairness we request that anyone who wishes to speak registers their interest by the appropriate deadline so that the Council can manage the meeting and the resources necessary.

If you would like to take part in Public Question Time you will need to register your interest by completing the online registration form

Registration for Public Question Time is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Completion of the on-line form does not guarantee you a slot to speak during Public Question Time. You will receive email notification from the Governance Service confirming whether your request is successful.

If you require assistance with registering for Public Question Time and are unable to complete the on-line form, please call the Governance Service on 01376 552525 or email governance@braintree.gov.uk who will assist you in completing the online form.

The latest time you can register for Public Question Time is midday on the second working day before the day of the Committee meeting. For example, if we are holding the Committee meeting on a Tuesday, you must register by midday on Friday. If there is a bank holiday Monday, you will need to register by midday on the previous Thursday.

If you register after the deadline, we reserve the right to decline your request

Registered Speakers may attend public question time in person or remotely. Upon registration you are asked to indicate your preference.

If you are confirmed as a “remote” registered speaker, you will receive a meeting invitation to access the meeting. Meeting Invitations must not be shared and failure to comply with this request may result in you not being admitted to the meeting.

You will be required to provide the wording of your question/statements. If you are attending remotely, this will be read out by an officer of the Governance Service in the event that you are unable to connect to the meeting or if there are any technical issues.

If you would like to speak at Full Council or a meeting of the Scrutiny Committees, questions and statement can be on any matter which the Council has powers or duties, or which affects the District.

If you would like to speak at Cabinet or other Committee meetings, questions and statements must relate to matters listed on the agenda.

Check the agenda for the meeting you wish to attend to make sure that the matter you wish to speak on is listed on the agenda.

Agenda are published on our Council and Democracy pages

Each registered speaker has up to 3 minutes to ask a question or make a statement. All questions or statements should be concise and should be able to be heard within the 3 minutes allotted to each speaker.

No, registers speakers may only speak once and do not have a right of reply.

No, all parties who wish to participate in Public Question Time must be individually registered.

Yes, but they must be connected with you. For example a household wishing to speak on an application.

In certain circumstances the Council will allow another to read your question/statement. The person reading your statement must confirm that they are reading your statement out on your behalf and must not add their own content or substitute information.

The Chairman of the meeting may exercise discretion to allow an officer to read out a question or statement in the absence of the person making it.

There is no guarantee that the Council will reply during the meeting to questions/statements made during Public Question Time. Where a response cannot be provided at the meeting, the Council will provide a written response within 10 working days.

The Leader of the Council, the relevant Cabinet Member or Committee Chairman will respond to questions and statements made at the meeting.

No, all questions are made to the Committee at which you are attending. The Leader of the Council, the relevant Cabinet Member or Committee Chairman will respond. The Leader, relevant Cabinet Member or Chairman may ask for an Officer to assist with the response should it be considered appropriate to do so.

Yes. A question/statement may be rejected by the Chairman if it addresses matters that would be inappropriate to consider at the meeting, ‘inappropriate’ includes any question or statement falling within any of the following categories:

• (a) is not about a matter for which the Council has powers or duties;
• (b) is defamatory, frivolous, vexatious or offensive;
• (c) is substantially the same as a question put to a meeting in the previous 6 months;
• ((d) will require the disclosure of Confidential or Exempt Information as defined in the Access to Information Procedure Rules; or
• (e) is already subject to separate appeal, adjudication, litigation, mediation or dispute resolution.

If a question or statement is rejected, then a written explanation as to why it has been rejected will be provided

The Council cannot give you anonymity during a public meeting. Public Question Time is a part of public session of a committee meeting which the Council has a legal obligation to make public. The Council broadcasts its meetings on YouTube as a live meeting to enable accessibility to its meetings and decision making. If you require anonymity, please email the governance service for further guidance.

Article 12 of the Council’s Constitution sets out the rules for Public Question Time. The Constitution is published on the our website.

The Council’s Monitoring Officer and Governance Service advise the Chairman on the provisions and interpretations of the Constitution including the rules for Public Question Time.

Most of our Committee meetings start at 7.15pm. You should check the agenda before the meeting to make sure you know the scheduled start time.

We publish the agendas and reports for Committees at least five working days before the meeting.

An officer's report supports all matters the Planning Committee meeting is considering. The report includes all relevant information.

We cannot support presentations by members of the public during the meeting.

If there is extra information which you would like to bring to the attention of the Planning Committee, you can email it directly to:

• the Members of the Committee
• the relevant Officer, and
• the Governance and Members Team

You should email the extra information to all these at the same time. You can find the email addresses for Planning Committee Members on the Councillors section of our website. You can find details of the relevant Officer in the Planning Committee reports published with the agenda

Do not send extra information immediately before a meeting. To give officers and Planning Committee Members enough time to see it, you should send extra information at least 24 hours before the meeting. You should allow more time if there is a bank holiday or weekend before the meeting