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St Martin-By-Looe Parish Council

Standing OrdersCode of Conduct

andFinancial Regulations

July 2015These Standing Orders, Code of Conduct and Financial Regulations were adopted by the Full Council of the Parish Council at its Meeting held on the 2nd July 2015. Item 9, Minutes page 866.

STANDING ORDERS


1. Meetings

a) A meetings of the Council shall be held on the 1st Thursday of each month at 7.30pm unless the Council otherwise decides at a previous meeting, with the exception of August when the Council does not normally meet.

b) Smoking is not permitted at any meeting of the Council.

c) Prior to commencement of each meeting of the Council a period of approx ten minutes will be allowed for Public Participation, during which any member of the public present may comment on the agenda for that meeting or bring other matters to the attention of the Council.

d) The Clerk by issue of a summons shall request members of the Council to attend each meeting of the Council. Such summons will be issued to members at least three clear days prior to each meeting of the Council. A copy of the agenda for the meeting will be issued with each summons.

e) Notification to the public of each meeting of the Council will be displayed in the Parish notice boards at least three days prior to the meeting of the Council.

f) Additional meetings of the Council shall be held when required.

g) The code of conduct adopted by the Council shall apply to councillors and members of the public co opted co opted to serve on Committees and Sub Committees of the Council in respect of the entire meeting.

h) All interests arising from the Code Of Conduct adopted by the Council, will be recorded in the minutes giving the existence and nature of the interest.

2. The Statutory Annual Meeting

a) In an election year the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council shall be held on or within 14 days following the day on which the councillors elected take office and

b) in a year which is not an election year the Annual Meeting shall be held in May immediately before the May ordinary Council meeting.

3. Chairman of the Meeting

a) The person presiding at a meeting may exercise all the powers and duties of the Chairman in relation to the conduct of the meeting. (Ref Appendix A on Chairmanship attached).

b) The Chairman is elected annually, normally at the Annual Meeting of the Council in May.

c) A person may serve no more than three consecutive years as Chairman, except at the discretion of the Council.

4. Proper Officer

Where a statute, regulation or order confers function or duties on the proper officer of the Council in the following cases, he shall be the clerk or nominated officer: -

a) To receive declarations of acceptance of office.b) To receive and record notices disclosing interests at meetings.c) To receive and retain plans and documents.d) The responsible financial officer on all financial matters.e) To sign notices or other documents on behalf of the Council.f) To receive copies of bylaws made by another local authority.g) To certify copies of bylaws made by the Council.h) To sign and issue the summons to attend meetings of the Council.i) To keep proper records for all Council meetings.

Quorum

5. Council – three members shall constitute a quorum.

6. If a quorum is not present or if during a meeting the number of councillors present, not counting those debarred by reason of a prejudicial interest, falls below the required quorum, the meeting shall be adjourned and

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remaining business not transacted shall be transacted at the next meeting or on such other day as the Chairman may fix.

7. If during a meeting the number the number of councillors falls below the quorum by reason of being debarred by a declaration of a prejudicial interest, the relevant matter shall be adjourned without discussion to the next meeting of the Council or on such other day as the Chairman decides, and the Council shall proceed to the next item of business.

8. Committees and Sub-Committees.A quorum shall be one half or three members, whichever is the greater. Please refer to Standing Order 42.

9. VotingMembers shall vote by show of hands or, if at least two members so request, by signed ballot.

10. If a member so requires, the Clerk shall record the names of the members who voted on any question so as to show whether they voted for or against it. Such a request must be made before moving on to the next business.

11. (1) Subject to (2) and (3) below the Chairman may give an original vote on any matter put to the vote, and in any case of an equality of votes may give a casting vote whether or not he gave an original vote.

(2) If the person presiding at the annual meeting would have ceased to be a member of the council but for the statutory provisions which preserve the membership of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman until the end of their term of office he may not give an original vote in an election for Chairman.

(3) The person presiding must give a casting vote whenever there is an equality of votes in an election for Chairman.

12. Order of Business

At each Annual Meeting the first business shall be:-a) To elect a Chairman of the Councilb) To receive the Chairman’s declaration of acceptance of office or, if not then received, to decide when it

shall be received.c) In the ordinary year of election of the Council to fill any vacancies left unfilled at the election by reason

of insufficient nominations.d) To decide when any declarations of acceptance of office which have not been received as provided by

law shall be received.e) To elect a Vice-Chairman of the Council.f) To appoint representatives to outside bodies.g) To appoint committees and sub-committees.h) To consider the payment of any subscriptions falling to be paid annually.i) To inspect any deeds and trust investments in the custody of the Council a required

And shall thereafter follow the order set out in the Standing Order 15.

13. At every meeting other than the Annual Meeting the first business shall be to appoint a Chairman if the Chairman and Vice-Chairman be absent and to receive such declarations of acceptance of office (if any) and undertaking to observe the Council’s code of conduct, as are required by law to be made or, if not then received, to decide when they shall be received.

14. In October or November every year, the Council shall review the pay and conditions of service of existing employees. Standing Order 38 must be read in conjunction with this requirement.

15. After the first business has been completed, the order of business, unless the Council otherwise decides on the ground of urgency, shall be as follows:-

a) To read and consider the Minutes; provided that if a copy has been circulated to each member not later than the day of issue of the summons to attend the meeting, the Minutes may be taken as read.

b) After consideration to approve the signature of the Minutes by the person presiding as a correct record.

c) To deal with business expressly required by statute to be done, i.e.(i) Declarations of interest.

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(ii) Except for the provisions of Standing Order 12[c], to receive any resignation(s) and institute procedures to fill the vacancy/ies.

(iii) To consider motions or recommendations tabled by members.(iv) To deal with planning applications and other planning matters.(v) To deal with all financial matters.

d) To dispose of business, if any, remaining from the last meeting.e) Reports on Matters Arising from the Minutes.f) New business.

16. Urgent Business

A motion to vary the order of business on the ground of urgency:

a) May be proposed by the Chairman or by any member and, if proposed by the Chairman, may be put to the vote without being seconded, and

b) Shall be put to the vote without discussion.

17. Resolutions Moved On Notice

Except as provided by these Standing Orders, no resolution may be moved unless the business to which it relates has been put on the Agenda by the Clerk or the mover has given notice in writing of its terms and has delivered the notice to the Clerk at least 10 clear days before the next meeting of the Council.

18. The Clerk shall date every notice of resolution or recommendation when received by him, shall number each notice in the order in which it was received and shall enter it in a book which shall be open to the inspection of every member of the Council.

19. The Clerk shall insert in the summons for every meeting all notices of motion or recommendation properly given in the order in which they have been received unless the member giving a notice of motion has stated in writing that he intends to move at some later meeting or that he withdraws it.

20. If a resolution or recommendation specified in the summons is not moved either by the member who gave notice of it or by any other member, it shall, unless postponed by the Council, be treated as withdrawn and shall not be moved without fresh notice.

21. If the subject matter of a resolution comes within the province of a committee of the Council, it shall, upon being moved and seconded, stand referred without discussion to such committee or to such other committee as the Council may determine for report; provided that the Chairman, if he considers it to be a matter of urgency, may allow it to be dealt with at the meeting at which it was moved.

22. Every resolution or recommendation shall be relevant to some subject over whom the Council has power or duties, which affects its area.

23. Resolutions Moved Without Notice

Resolutions dealing with the following matters may be moved without notice:-

a) To appoint a Chairman of the meeting.b) To correct the Minutes.c) To approve the Minutes.d) To alter the order of business.e) To proceed to the next business.f) To close or adjourn the debate.g) To refer a matter to a committee.h) To appoint a committee or any members thereof.i) To adopt a report.j) To authorise the sealing of documents. (see order 41).k) To amend a motion.l) To give leave to withdraw a resolution or amendment.m) To extend the time limit for speeches.n) To exclude the public. (see Order 67)o) To silence or eject from the meeting a member named for misconduct. (see order 33)p) To invite a member having an interest in the subject matter under debate to remain.

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q) To give the consent of the Council where such consent is required by these Standing Orders.r) To suspend any Standing Order, ref Standing Order 79. s) To adjourn the meeting.

24. Questions

A member may ask the Chairman of the Council or the Clerk any question concerning the business of the Council, providing 7 clear days notice of the question has been given to the person to whom it is addressed before the meeting begins.

25. No questions not connected with business under discussion shall be asked except during the part of the meeting set aside for questions.

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

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

28. Rules of Debate

No discussion of the Minutes shall take place 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 councillor or member of the public co opted to serve on Council committees and sub committees who has a non register able interest defined under 3.5A of the Council’s Code of Conduct, may by invitation of the Chairman, remain in the room to address the council to provide any information as they reasonably consider might inform the debate before leaving the room.c 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.d) A member shall direct his speech to the question under discussion or to a personal explanation or to a

question of order.e) The period of time for addressing the council shall not exceed three minutes and will be at the discretion

of the Chairman.f) No speech by a mover of a resolution shall exceed three minutes and no other speech shall exceed

three minutes except by consent of the Council.g) An amendment shall be either:-

i) To leave out words.ii) To leave out words and insert or add othersiii) To insert or add words.

h) An amendment shall not have the effect of negating the resolution before the Council.i) 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.j) A further amendment shall not be moved until the Council has disposed of every amendment previously

moved.k) The mover of a resolution or of an amendment shall have a right of reply, not exceeding three minutes.l) 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 a closure.

m) A member may speak on a point of order or a personal explanation. A member speaking for these purposes shall be heard forthwith. A personal explanation shall be confined to some material part of a former speech by him which may have been misunderstood.

n) 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.

o) 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.

iii. To adjourn the debate.

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iv. That the question be now put.

v. That a member named be not further heard.

vi. That a member named leave the meeting.

vii. That the resolution be referred to a committee.

viii. To exclude the public and press.

ix. To adjourn the meeting.

30. A member shall remain seated when speaking unless requested to stand by the Chairman

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] Members shall address the Chairman.[c] If two or more members wish to speak, the Chairman shall decide the order in which the members will speak.[d] Whenever the Chairman speaks during debate all other members shall be silent.

32. Closure

a. 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, the Chairman shall put the motion but, in the case of a motion “that the question be now put”, only if he is of the opinion that the question before the Council has been sufficiently debated. 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 that 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.

b. Where a meeting is adjourned the subsequent proceedings are part of the original meeting and no new notices or agendas need to be issued except a notification to members not present of the date of the continuation of the meeting.

33. Disorderly Conduct

a) All members must observe the Code of Conduct which was adopted by the council in 2012, a copy of which is annexed to these Standing Orders (Appendix B).

b) No member shall at a meeting persistently disregard the ruling of the Chairman, wilfully obstruct business, or behave irregularly, offensively, improperly or in such a manner as to bring the Council into disrepute.

c) If, in the opinion of the Chairman, a member has broken the provisions of paragraph (b) of this Order, the Chairman shall express that opinion to the Council and thereafter any member may move that the member named be no longer heard or that the member named do leave the meeting, and the motion, if seconded, shall be put forth with and without discussion. If a member reasonably believes another member is in breach of the code of conduct, that member is under a duty to report the breach to the Standards Board (England).

d) If either of the motions mentioned in paragraph c is disobeyed, the Chairman may adjourn the meeting or take such further steps as may reasonably be necessary to enforce them.

34. Right of Reply

The mover of a resolution shall have a right to reply immediately before the resolution is put to the vote. If an amendment is proposed the mover of the amendment shall be entitled to reply immediately before the amendment is put to the vote. A member exercising a right of reply shall not introduce a new matter. After the right of reply has been exercised or waived, a vote shall be taken without further discussion.

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35. Alteration of ResolutionA member may, with the consent of his seconder, move amendments to his own resolution.

36. Rescission of Previous Resolution

a) A decision (whether affirmative or negative) of the Council shall not be reversed within six months except either by a special resolution, the written notice whereof bears the names of at least three members of the Council, or by a resolution moved in pursuance of the report or recommendation of a committee.

b) When a special resolution or any other resolution moved under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this Order has been disposed of, no similar resolution may be moved within a further six months.

37. Voting On Appointments

Where more than two persons have been nominated for any position to be filled by the Council and of the votes given there is not an absolute majority in favour of one person, the name of the person having the least number of votes shall be struck off the list and a fresh vote taken, and so on until a majority of votes is given in favour of one person.

38. Discussions and Resolutions Affecting Employees of the Council

If at a meeting there arises any question relating to the appointment, conduct, promotion, dismissal, salary or conditions of service, of any person employed by the Council, it shall not be considered until the Council or committee (as the case may be) has decided whether or not the press and public shall be excluded. (See Standing Order No. 67.)

39. Resolutions on Expenditure

Any resolution which if carried, would in the opinion of the Chairman, substantially increase the expenditure upon any service which is under the management of the Council or reduce the revenue at the disposal of the Council, or which would involve capital expenditure, shall, when proposed and seconded, stand adjourned without discussion to the next ordinary meeting of the Council, and shall consider whether it desires to report thereon.

40. Expenditure

Orders for the payment of money shall be authorised by resolution of the Council and signed by two members.

41. Sealing of Documents

a) A document shall not be sealed on behalf of the Council unless its sealing has been authorised by a resolution.

b) Any two members of the Council named in a resolution moved under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this Order may seal by signing, on behalf of the Council, any document required by law to be issued under seal.

42. Committees and Sub Committees

The Council may at its Annual Meeting appoint standing committees and may at any other time appoint such other committees as are necessary, but subject to any statutory provision in that behalf:-

a) Shall not appoint any member of a committee so as to hold office later than the next Annual Meeting.b) May appoint persons other than members of the Council to any Committee; andc) may subject to the provisions of paragraphs A & B above at any time dissolve or alter the membership

of committee.

43. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman, ex-officio, shall be voting members of every committee.

44. Every committee shall at its first meeting before proceeding to any other business, elect a Chairman and may elect a Vice-Chairman who shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting of the council..

45. Special Meeting

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The Chairman of a committee or the Chairman of the Council may summon an additional meeting of that committee at any time. An additional meeting shall also be summoned on the requisition in writing of not less than a quarter of the members of the committee. The summons shall set out the business to be considered at the special meeting and no other business shall be transacted at that meeting.

46. Sub-Committees

Every committee may appoint sub-committees for purposes to be specified by the committee.

47. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the committee shall be members of every sub-committee appointed by it unless they signify that they do not wish to serve.

48. Except where ordered by the Council in the case of a committee, or by the Council or by the appropriate committee in the case of a sub-committee, the quorum of a committee or sub-committee shall be one-half of its members.

49. The Standing Orders on rules of debate (except those parts relating to speaking more than once) and the Standing Order on interests of members in contracts and other matters shall apply to committee and sub-committee meetings.

Advisory Committees50. 1).The Council may appoint advisory committees, whose name, and number of members and the

bodies to be invited to nominate members shall be specified.2).The Clerk shall inform the members of each advisory committee of the terms of reference of the committee.3).An advisory committee may make recommendations and give notice thereof to the Council 4).An advisory committee may consist wholly of persons who are not members of the Council.

Voting in Committees

51. Members of committees and sub-committees entitled to vote, shall vote by show of hands, or, if at least two members so request, by signed ballot.

52. Chairmen of committees and sub-committees shall in the case of an equality of votes have a second or casting vote.

53. Presence of Non-Members of Committees at Committee Meetings

A member who has proposed a resolution, which has been referred to any committee of which he is not a member, may explain his resolution to the committee but shall not vote.

54. Accounts and Financial Statement

1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this Standing Order or by statute, all accounts for payment and claims upon the Council shall be laid before the Council.

2) Where it is necessary to make a payment before it has been authorised by the Council, such payment shall be certified as to its correctness and urgency by the appropriate officer. Such payment shall be authorised by the committee, if any, having charge of the business to which it relates, or by the proper officer for payment with the approval of the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Council.

3) All payments ratified under sub-paragraph (2) of this Standing Order shall be separately included in the next schedule of payments before the Council.

55. The Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) shall supply to each member as soon as practicable after 31 March in each year a statement of the receipts and payments of the Council for the completed financial year. A Financial Statement prepared on the appropriate accounting basis (receipts and payments, or income and expenditure) for a year to 31 March shall be presented to each member before the end of the following month of May. The Statement of Accounts of the Council (which is subject to external audit) shall be presented to Council for formal approval before the end of the following month of September.

56. Estimates / Precepts

1) The council shall approve written estimates for the coming financial year at its meeting in the month of October or November.

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2) Any committee desiring to incur expenditure shall give the RFO a written estimate of the expenditure recommended for the coming year no later than 31st August.

57. Interests

If a member has a personal interest as defined by the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in July 2012, then he shall declare such interest as soon as it becomes apparent, disclosing the existence and nature of that interest as required.

58. If a member who has declared a personal interest then considers the interest to be prejudicial, he must withdraw from the room or chamber during consideration of the item to which the interest relates.

59. The Clerk may be required to compile and hold a register of members interests in accordance with agreement reached with the Monitoring Officer of the Responsible Authority and/or as required by statute.

60. If a candidate for any appointment under the Council is to his knowledge related to any member of or the holder of any office under the Council, he and the person to whom he is related shall disclose the relationship in writing to the Clerk. A candidate who fails so to do shall be disqualified without notice. The Clerk shall report to the Council or to the appropriate committee any such disclosure. Where a relationship to a member is disclosed, Standing Orders 57 & 58 shall apply as appropriate.

61. The Clerk shall make known the purport of Standing Order 60 to every candidate.

62. Canvassing of and Recommendations By Members1) Canvassing of members of the Council or of any committee, directly or indirectly, for any appointment

under the Council shall disqualify the candidate for such appointment. The Clerk shall make known the purport of this sub-paragraph of this Standing Order to every candidate.

2) A member of the Council or of any committee shall not solicit for any person any appointment under the Council or recommend any person for such appointment or for promotion; but, nevertheless, any such member may give a written testimonial of a candidate’s ability, experience or character for submission to the Council with an application for appointment.

63. Standing Order Nos. 60 & 62 shall apply to tenders as if the person making the tender were a candidate for an appointment.

64. Inspection of DocumentsA member may for the purpose of his duty as such (but not otherwise), inspect any document in possession of the Council or a committee, and if copies are available shall, on request, be supplied for the like purpose with a copy.

65. All minutes kept by the Council and by any committee shall be open for the inspection of any member of the Council.

66. Unauthorised Activities

No member of the Council or of any committee or sub-committee shall in the name of or on behalf of the Council:-

a) Inspect any lands or premises which the Council has a right or duty to inspect; orb) Issue orders, instructions or directions

unless authorised to do so by the Council or the relevant committee or sub-committee.

67. Admission of The Public and Press to Meetings

The public shall be admitted to all meetings of the Council and its committees and sub-committees, which may, however, temporarily exclude the public by means of the following resolutions: -

a. “That in view of the [special] [confidential] nature of the business about to be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the press and public be temporarily excluded and they are instructed to withdraw”

b. The special or confidential reasons should be stated. If a person’s advise or assistance is needed they may be invited (by name) to remain after the exclusion resolution is passed.

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Filming and recording meetings

a) Whilst a meeting of the Council, its committees or sub committees is open to the public, any person, if present, may : i) film, photograph or make an audio recording of a meeting, however this should be brought to the

Chairman or Vice Chairman’s attention prior to the meeting. ii) use any other means for enabling persons not present to see or hear proceedings at a meeting as it

takes place or later; iii) report or comment on the proceedings in writing during or after a meeting or orally report or

comment after the meeting.

b) Oral reporting, commentary or broadcasting is not permitted during any part of a meeting of the council, its committees and sub committees.

c) An individual must be present and able to use their equipment in order to film, photograph or audio record a meeting. There will be no opportunity to report on any part of the meeting where the council has resolved to exclude the press and public.

d) Disruptive behaviour

i) No filming, photographing or audio recording of a meeting should be carried out in such a way as to disrupt the proceedings of the meeting.

ii) If person(s) disregard the request of the chairman of the meeting to moderate or improve their behaviour, any councillor or the chairman of the meeting may move that the person be instructed to cease filming, photographing or audio recording. The motion, if seconded, shall be put to the vote without discussion.

iii) If a resolution understanding order 31 d ii) above is ignored, the chairman of the meeting may take further reasonable steps to restore order or to progress the meeting. This may include temporarily suspending or closing the meeting.

e) Members of the Council recording meetings are reminded of their obligations under the Council’s Code of Conduct in respect of confidential matters.

68. At all meetings of the Council the Chairman may at his discretion and at a convenient time in the transaction of business, adjourn the meeting so as to allow any members of the public to address the meeting in relation to the business to be transacted at that meeting.

69. The Clerk shall afford to the press reasonable facilities for the taking of their report of any proceedings at which they are entitled to be present. There shall be no audio or video recording or photographs of the meeting without the express approval of the Council.

70. If a member of the public interrupts the proceedings at any meeting, the Chairman may, after warning, order that he be removed from the meeting room and may adjourn the meeting for such period as is necessary to restore order.

71. Confidential Business

1). No member of the Council or of any committee or sub-committee shall disclose to any person not a member of the Council any business declared to be confidential by the Council, the committee or the sub-committee as the case may be.

2). Any member in breach of the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Standing Order shall be removed from any committee or sub-committee of the Council by the Council.

72. Liaison with County and District CouncillorsA summons and Agenda for each meeting shall be sent, together with an invitation to attend, to the County, District or Unitary Councillors for the Parish.

73. Unless the Council otherwise orders, a copy of each letter ordered to be sent to the County or District Councils or Unitary Authority, shall be transmitted to the Councillors of the relevant authority.

74. Planning Applications

1) The Clerk shall, as soon as it is received, enter in a book kept for the purpose the following particulars of every planning application notified to the Council: -

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a) the date on which it was received b) the name of the applicantc) the place to which it relates;

d) the description of the proposed development.

2) The Clerk shall refer every planning application received to the Chairman or in the Chairman’s absence to the Vice Chairman within 48 hours of receiving it.

3) The application after being referred to the Chairman or Vice Chairman shall then be circulated to all Councillors. It will be the responsibility of each Councillor to ensure that every planning application is passed on to another Councillor for consideration, or returned to the Clerk within the time period specified.

4). If a planning application is being considered at a full meeting of the Parish Council, and that the Public are invited to attend and make comments or statements or to ask questions prior to the application being discussed by the Councillors. That these statements/questions/comments are given after the normal period of public consultation, and that the time allowed for statements/questions/comments be limited to 3 minutes for a single application or 7 minutes for multiple applications for the same property. When this time has ended there will be no right to ask supplementary questions, or to debate answers received.

The Public should be made aware that the Parish Council is only a consultee on any planning application and that any comment made by the Parish Council either objecting to or supporting the application in not binding on the deciding authority.

5). Public Awareness:

It must be made clear to the Public that whilst they can raise objections to or support an application when attending a meeting of the Parish Council, the Parish Council is not responsible for informing the deciding authority of their objections or support.

By informing the Parish Council of their objections or support, they are assisting the Parish Council in considering the planning application.

Should they wish for their objections or support to be taken into account when the application is being considered by the deciding authority, it is their sole responsibility to make a written statement to the deciding authority.

Although it is not mandatory to inform the Parish Council of the intention to attend a meeting, any persons wishing to ask questions are encouraged to submit them in writing prior to the meeting, so that an answer may be given at the meeting.

This request will be included on the agendas advertised on the Parish Notice boards.

6). Circulation of Planning Applications:

Planning Applications are circulated to all Parish Councillors, placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Parish Council and then a decision is made.

However, if an application is received, and has to be returned to the deciding authority before the date of the next meeting of the Parish Council, it is practice to circulate the application and then hold a separate meeting. This costs the Parish Council more and it may not be possible for all Councillors to attend.

It is proposed to circulate the application as normal; ask Councillors for their comments on the application to be made in writing, and to ask if they think a full meeting of the Parish Council is necessary.

If it is considered that a full meeting of the Parish Council is not necessary then the Chair and Vice Chair should have the delegated authority to consider the application, taking into account the Councillors written comments.

75. Financial Regulations and Contracts

The Council shall consider and approve Financial Regulations drawn up by the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO).

1) Such Regulations shall include detailed arrangements for the following:

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a) the accounting records and systems of internal control;b) the assessment and management of risks faced by the Council;c) the work of the Internal Auditor and the receipt of regular reports from the Internal Auditor which

shall be required at least annually;d) the financial reporting requirements of members and local electors; e) Procurement policies (subject to (2) below) including the setting of values for different procedures

where the contract has an estimated value less than £10,000.f) Contracts with a value in excess of £140,000 are likely to be subject to European Union Public

Sector Procurement Rules, and the Council shall seek advice before proceeding.

2) Any proposed contract for the supply of goods, materials, services and the execution of works with an estimated value in excess of £10,000 shall be procured on the basis of a formal tender as summarised in (3) below.

3) Any formal tender process shall comprise the following steps:

a) a public notice of intention to place a contract to be placed in a local newspaper and the Parish Magazine if the date of publication in suitable.

b) a specification of the goods, materials, services and the execution of works shall be drawn up.c) tenders are to be sent, in a sealed marked envelope, to the Clerk by a stated date and time; and

the tender notice shall contain a reference to the Standing Orders 60 & 62 regarding improper activity.

d) tenders submitted are to be opened, after the stated closing date and time, by the Clerk and at least one member of Council;

e) tenders are then to be assessed and reported to the appropriate meeting of Council or Committee.f) If no tenders are received or if all tenders are identical, the Council may make such arrangements

for procuring goods, materials or services as it thinks fit.76. The Council, or any Committee, is not bound to accept the lowest tender, estimate or quote.

77. The Financial Regulations of the Council shall be subject to regular review, at least once every four years.

78. Code of Conduct on Complaints The Council shall deal with complaints of misadministration allegedly committed by the Council or by any officer or member in the manner recommended by the National Association of Local Councils, except for complaints, which should be properly directed to the Monitoring Officer for the District for consideration.

79. Variation, Revocation and Suspension of Standing Orders

Any or every part of the Standing Orders except those printed in bold type may be suspended by resolution in relation to any specific item of business.

80. A resolution permanently to add, vary or revoke a Standing Order shall when proposed and seconded, stand adjourned without discussion to the next ordinary meeting of the Council.

81. Standing Orders to be Given to Members

a. A copy of these Standing Orders shall be given to each member by the Clerk upon delivery to him of the member’s declaration of acceptance of office and written undertaking to observe the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council.

b. The Standing Orders shall be reviewed every four years prior to each local council election.Policy Statements

82. Equal Opportunities Policy: No member of the public, job applicant, elected member, or employee shall receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, race, sexual orientation, marital status, disability or age.

83. Date Protection Act 1998 )The requirements of these ActsThe Human Rights Act 1988 )shall be taken into considerationThe Crime and Disorder Act 1998 )by the Council when exercisingThe Disability Discrimination Act 1995 )its functions.Age Discrimination Act 2006

84. Freedom in Information Act 2000. The Councils Publication Scheme is annexed to these Standing Orders as Appendix C.

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Appendix A

PART I - CHAIRMANSHIP

(NOTE: In this part, the word “Chairman” means the person actually presiding at a meeting and “Council” includes “committee,” where any function has been delegated. The Standing Orders in Part II may be applied or modified accordingly.)

BASIC PRINCIPLES

1. The officers and agents of the Council must act as the Council’s executive and carry out its decisions. They cannot do this properly unless they have instructions that they can understand.

2. It is the primary, if not the only, function of the Council to frame instructions upon which people can act; even a decision to take no action, is such an instruction.

3. The Council’s instructions are conveyed by resolutions and it is the purpose of the Council’s proceedings to reach, without unreasonable delay, an intelligible and lawful decision for the right reasons. The whole duty of a Chairman is to ensure that this purpose is achieved and to this end he must:-

(a) protect the Council against outside interference;(b) ensure that everything to be discussed is lawful;(c) ensure that the Council is invited to deal with clear issues;(d) ensure that as far as possible information is complete;(e) permit every point of view to have a fair hearing;(f) ensure that opinions expressed are relevant to the matter in hand;(g) ensure that business is transacted with reasonable speed;(h) ensure as far as possible that proceedings are friendly and free form personalities;(i) co-operate with the officers and councillors.

THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHAIR

Origin

4. The office of Chairman of a local authority is created by statute, which has conferred upon the occupant of the chair a second or casting vote on all occasions but one. The scope of his authority, however, depends upon ancient customs, which are perfectly logical and arise from the necessities of the case.

Nature and Limitations

5. Whether or not the Council has passed any standing orders, the Chairman’s procedural authority is derived from the Council, as a whole and an individual councillor must obey his rulings because they are the rulings of the Council itself. It follows from this, however, that the Chairman cannot overrule the Council and that a councillor who is dissatisfied by the Chairman’s ruling may invite the Council to disagree with it. Such appeals against the chair ought to be very rare.

6. The authority of the Chairman, as such, is limited to matters of procedure and neither increases nor decreases his right (in comparison with other members) to discuss the merits of a particular case. It is one of his most difficult tasks to remember that, while the Chair gives him authority on matters of procedure, it confers no rights (other than the casting vote) on matters of policy above those possessed by other members.

PRELIMINARY

7. Before any meeting, the Chairman should study the items on the agenda with either the Clerk or any other officers, and should in effect ask in respect of each item the following questions:-

What does it mean?Is it lawful?Do we know enough about it?Has any member special knowledge of this problem?Is there any member who may have a prejudicial interest?

OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE

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Public Disturbances

8. No one is entitled to interrupt or obstruct the proceedings of the Council or its committees. In general it is best to stop an interruption at once before the habit spreads to the rest of the audience; and though he will naturally not wish to be rude, the Chairman should cut an interrupter short, and if good humour and conciliation fail to produce silence he may have to warn him that he will be turned out if he does it again; if the warning is ignored it should be resolved, without discussion, that the interrupter be excluded, and if he fails to leave he should be removed by force. Care should be taken to use no more force than necessary. It is not essential to call the police, but maybe necessary.

9. The Chairman should never argue or allow argument with an interrupter. If the public becomes disorderly it may eventually be necessary to close the meeting or to adjourn to a more private place. It is, however, illegal to decide to exclude the public from any future meeting. The press is in a privileged position inasmuch as its representatives must so far as possible be given facilities for taking their reports.

Personal and Prejudicial Interests

10. The law requires that where a member has a personal interest in any matter he must disclose the existence and nature of that interest. If the personal interest is also prejudicial (England) or requires withdrawal (Wales), the member should withdraw from the meeting and take no further part in the relevant proceedings or seek to influence those proceedings. The Chairman should before a meeting consider whether any member (including himself) may have any such interest, and may draw the individual member’s attention to the possibility before it starts. However, ultimately, it is for the member to decide whether or not to disclose any relevant interest. Failure to disclose an interest (personal or prejudicial) can lead to an investigation by the Standards Board (England) or the Commission (Wales).

Rulings on notices

11. The Chairman must be satisfied that the meeting is lawful. He does not need to have personal knowledge that the proper notices and summonses have been issued, but if complaints are made he must give a ruling based upon the essential justice of the matter. A meeting is not necessarily illegal because someone has not received a notice to which he is entitled, but where an irregularity appears to be intentional or important the meeting should be adjourned until it has been corrected.

Quorum

12. No business can be transacted if no quorum is present. This rule applies not only to cases of physical absence but to cases of disqualification by interest. A situation may, therefore, sometimes arise where the Council cannot act because it is impossible to obtain a disinterested quorum. In such a case the Chairman should adjourn the matter until it can be next dealt with. Those members with a prejudicial interest (England) or a personal interest requiring withdrawal (Wales) should consider making an application for dispensation to their standards committee where appropriate.

Ultra Vires Proposals

13. The Chairman should satisfy himself that any proposal involving expenditure is lawful and should rule any unlawful proposal or amendment out of order. Where there is any doubt, advice should be sought well before the meeting and in time to delete it, if necessary, from the agenda. The section 137 power (contained in the Local Government Act 1972) is not a “long stop” in case of a mistake; expenditure under this heading requires a special resolution, related to the provisions of that section.

A CLEAR ISSUE

14. Every decision of the Council must be made by an affirmative vote of a majority of those present and voting (including, where necessary, the Chairman’s second or casting vote). The members must, therefore, know exactly what they are being asked to decide and each proposition must be put to them in a form which can be answered by a simple “Yes” or “No”. From this there follow certain practical consequences:-

(a) All motions should be affirmative in form; it is never necessary to move that a resolution be rejected;

(b) Where there is more than one solution to a problem each solution must be separately put to the vote.

The Affirmative Form

15. The most exact method of putting a question to the vote is by the use of the following formula:-“The resolution is as follows: -

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(e.g.) ‘That the Clerk’s salary be raised to £5,000 a year.’

The motion is that this resolution be agreed to.”

(Note: A resolution is a proposal of the action intended to be taken: for example “That the Council buy a mower”. A motion is the procedural formula by which the Council disposes of business: for example “The motion is that the resolution be amended by “ or “The motion is that the Council do now adjourn”.)

Separating the Issues

16. In attempting to reach a decision a Council may from time to time be faced with alternative solutions. Some alternatives may be mutually exclusive; others may be matters of detail subsidiary to the principal issue.

17. Where the alternatives are mutually exclusive it may be desirable in the first instance to discuss the resolutions embodying them together until the general trend of opinion is apparent and then to put one of them in the form of an amendment to the other; for instance, if a Council considers that it can afford either a swimming pool or a new playing field but not both, a decision to provide the one in practice excludes the other. Therefore, the resolution on behalf of each should be discussed together and the issue at this stage may be informally stated thus:-

“If the Council is to spend its money would it prefer a swimming pool or a playing field?”

In more formal language the issue is put to the vote by substantive resolution and amendment: -

“The resolution is that the swimming pool be provided. To this the following amendment has been moved: -

leave out the words ‘swimming pool’ and substitute the words ‘new playing field.’

The motion is that this amendment be agreed to.”

18. A vote on an amendment does not end the matter: it merely decides what shall be discussed next. Thus, in the example, if the amendment is carried, all further discussion of the swimming pool becomes out of order, but the Council has yet to decide whether the major operation shall be carried out at all. This is done by putting the resolution as amended to the vote. (See also paragraph 35 below.)

METHOD OF VOTING

19. The rules on the manner in which decisions are taken are peremptory and admit no exceptions. Every decision must be reached by a majority of those voting. Appointments to employments must be decided in the same way as other questions.

COMPLETENESS OF INFORMATION

20. Sensible decisions cannot be reached without reasonably complete information, which it is usually the duty of the clerk to supply. The Chairman should before the meeting consider whether enough information is available or likely to be made available, and at the meeting he should make a point of asking a member with special knowledge to give his opinion. If it appears at the meeting that information is still insufficient he should move to adjourn consideration until more is known, and sometimes it may be desirable to frame questions and to instruct the clerk to obtain the answers by a specified date.

IMPARTIALITY

21. When differences of opinion develop in discussion it is the duty of the Chairman to give a fair hearing to all points of view including his own, if he has one. It is not his duty as Chairman to suppress his own convictions nor his privilege to impose his opinions. Experience has shown that the safest and least controversial course is for the Chairman to call upon speakers for and against a proposal to speak alternately and himself to avoid speaking first or last.

22. Some people are better at putting a case than others and the Chairman ought to allow reasonable latitude to the less eloquent. For this reason mechanical rules of debate limiting, for instance, the time allowed for a speech or the number of times a member may speak, are undesirable, and the Chairman should have some latitude in applying them, especially in a Council with a small membership.

RELEVANCE

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General Rule

23. A speech must be directed to the point under discussion and nothing else. This rule is easy to state, but not always easy to apply fairly, because the relevance of what is being said may be understood by the speaker before it is grasped by the listener; whilst the rule should not be made a cover for “barracking from the chair” it is probably true that if Chairmen enforced it more strictly, business would be much more quickly and efficiently conducted than is often the case, and many unnecessary arguments and even some quarrels would be avoided. Bad feeling originates in irrelevancies more often than in any other way. On the other hand, it is sometimes advantageous to allow irrelevance in order to “clear the air”. Too harsh suppression can breed ill will and a sense of grievance.

Personalities

24. The Chairman should do his best to prevent observations in discussion; the custom whereby the speeches are in a form addressed to the Chairman, should only be observed because it forces members to employ an impersonal mode of expression. If a member makes an offensive personal observation, the Chairman should immediately intervene to seek immediate apology to an offended member.

Methods of Enforcement

25. Where a speech is obviously irrelevant the Chairman should stop the speaker and invite him to return to the point or sit down. Where the irrelevance is not quite so obvious the Chairman may often find it convenient to ask the speaker to explain how his remarks relate to the issue.

Revival of Decided Issues

26. The Chairman should not allow a matter that has been decided to be reopened at the same meeting. An attempt to “hark back” to a previous agenda item should be firmly ruled out of order as irrelevant to the matter now under discussion, even if the member who raises it was not present when the item was considered.

Minutes

27. One of the commonest irrelevances is the practice of attempting to discuss the merits of what is contained in the minutes, on a motion for their signature as a correct record. On such a motion the only issue is whether the words of the minutes accurately record the events at the meeting of which they are a record.

Other Problems

28. (a) If any substantial issue arises on a matter dealt with in the Minutes, it is better to have a separate agenda

item than to discuss it under “Matters Arising”. That heading should be used only for reports of progress and not for new or additional decisions.

(b) Letters received by the Council should not be read out verbatim: this provokes irrelevant discussion on wording and is liable to lead to misunderstanding by the public. On the very rare occasions that the exact text is needed by every councillor the clerk should issue copies. Normally it is sufficient to report the main issue in the letter: for example “Mrs Smith of has written asking the Council to get the pile of rubbish removed from outside 48 Lane”.

REASONABLE DESPATCH

Intervals

29. It is important that business should be transacted with reasonable speed. Long meetings bore the members and so reduce the level of attentiveness and public spirit, and long intervals between meetings lead to missed opportunities and lack of continuity. A Local Council cannot expect to be consulted regularly by other bodies such as the County or District Council if it does not answer letters reasonably promptly. For this reason it should meet at least once a month, and the Chairman ought not to hesitate to call special meetings in necessary cases; the greater the interval between regular meetings the more ready he should be to call them. The right of Local Councils to be notified of planning applications makes this especially important.

Obstruction at Meetings

30. Deliberate obstruction is rare, but must be firmly dealt with when it occurs. It is difficult to be directly obstructive for long without being irrelevant, and therefore deliberate obstruction sometimes takes the form of raising a succession of points of order. In dealing with this type of obstruction it is well to remember that

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a point is not necessarily a point of order because the person who makes it labels it as such. (For points of order see paragraph 33 below.)

Repetition

31. If it is evident that nothing new can be said on either side in a particular discussion, a Chairman is justified in putting the matter to the vote even though there are still members wishing to speak. Usually, however, the state of affairs is not so clear and in such cases the Chairman should ask leave of the Council to put the matter to the vote.

References

32. All deliberative bodies have a natural tendency to refer questions to someone else (e.g. an officer or a committee) for consideration or report. These are frequently unnecessary because they are often used only when a Council is unwilling to make a final decision.

SOME PROCEDURAL POINTS

Points of Order

33. Points of Order relate to procedure only and take precedence of all other business; it is the duty of the Chairman to deal with them. If a point relates to the substance of a matter under discussion it is not a point of order and should be ruled out of order by the Chairman. The person raising the matter of substance in this way should be told to save it for his speech on the business. For instance, if the provision of a swimming pool is being discussed and someone interrupts the speaker by saying “On a point of order, can we afford it?” the interruption should be ruled out of order because this is not a procedural question. It is part of the merits of the business and must therefore be decided by discussion. The person interrupted may of course answer the point when he continues his speech or ignore it as he thinks appropriate. If, however, the interruption had been “On a point of order, have we power to do this?” the Chairman (in consultation with the clerk) must give a ruling the answer is “No”, the Council has no power to act as proposed and the business ought not to be under discussion. (See Standing Order 31(a) below.)

Procedural Resolutions

34. Procedural resolutions should normally be put without discussion. The usual exceptions are resolutions to (a) correct minutes, (b) alter the order of business, (c) refer to committee.

Closure Motions

35. The following are the respective effects of closure resolutions:-

(a) On the passing of a resolution to proceed to next business proceedings on the business in hand come to a stop and no decision upon it can be taken.

(b) On the passing of a resolution that the question be now put the mover is usually entitled to reply before the matter is put to the vote. By custom the chairman may refuse to accept such a resolution until he thinks that the matter has been sufficiently debated.

(c) A resolution to adjourn a discussion or a meeting stops the discussion at the moment it is passed and no decision is taken on the business; therefore the discussion may later be resumed at the point where it was interrupted.

Amendments

36. (a) An amendment, which in substance negates the principle resolution, should not be allowed because it is

confusing and unnecessary.

(b) An amendment should always be put to the vote before the resolution that it seeks to amend. (See also paragraph 18 above.)

Any Other Business

37. The summons to a meeting of a Local Council must by law specify the business to be transacted; a Local Council cannot legally decide to take any action under the general heading of “any other business” because these words do not specify any item of business. The rule prevents the Council deciding any business, which will have either expenditure consequences or lead the Council into a legal situation: for example by

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making a contract. There is no practical objection to exchanges of information under “A.O.B.” or the giving of a preliminary notification of important business for next time.

38. “Urgent” Business

39. The law makes no provision for dealing with “urgent” business. If it is “urgent” only because it was not notified in time to appear on the agenda, it should be left till the next meeting. If it is genuinely “urgent”, that is it was too late for the agenda and it will be too late for action if left till the next ordinary meeting an additional meeting should be called or the Council should have a regular arrangement for the reference of such matters either to a committee or to the clerk for action. It is contrary to local government law for the Chairman or any other single member to take a decision binding the Council.

USE OF CHAIRMAN’S VOTES

40. Save on one occasion the Chairman has both an ordinary and a casting vote. There is no rule of law which requires him to give his ordinary vote at the same time as the other members are voting, and it is obviously undesirable and undignified for him to wait and then say “the voting is 5 to 4 against; I therefore vote in favour which makes it even.”

41. Where there is an equality of votes a Chairman may be faced with an embarrassing problem. A resolution requires a majority and therefore, since an equality is not majority, he may declare the resolution not carried. This course is, however, sometimes regarded as irresponsible or lacking in courage; in such circumstances the Chairman ought to give a casting vote, if at all possible, in such a way that the matter can be considered again; for instance, on a motion to accept a particular tender a vote in favour will conclude the matter, but a vote against will leave the way open for further negotiations or reconsideration.

PRESENCE OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS

41. In principle, the public (which includes the press) is entitled to be present at all meetings of the Council and its committees, and ought to be admitted to sub-committees. The Council or a committee, however, may exclude the public for a particular item of business, if it is opinion that such exclusion is reasonable and in the public interest. Where the public and Press have been excluded the decisions made in the closed session must be minuted: a record should be kept of who was present at the session: the Press should be told of any decision. Business is ‘confidential’ if its discussion must be kept secret: it is ‘special’ and the reasons for secrecy must be stated in any case where the need for secrecy is not obvious.

MALADMINISTRATION

42. Parish and Community Councils are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Local Ombudsman. There is, therefore, no outside body that can adjudicate on complaints about the procedures of a Local Council if the law has not been broken. It is, however, important for the good name of the Council that complaints be handled properly and fairly. The National Association has therefore published Legal Topic Note 56 – Code of Practice in Handling Complaints, which recommends a standard and formal procedure to all Councils. In light of the Local Government Act 2000, Councils are recommended to agree, with their Standards Committee, a form of complaint procedure for matters falling outside the jurisdiction of the Standards Board.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

43. The public cannot, of course, take part in the proceedings of the Council, but an increasing number of Councils have created and sustained public interest in their work by arranging for a short period in meetings (say 20 to 30 minutes) when members of the public are permitted to put questions to the Council or to make observations. Such periods can be either during the meeting (by adjournment) or at its end.

LENGTH OF MEETINGS

44. Experience suggests that a meeting should never be allowed to continue for more than two hours without a break. Some organisations embody this idea in a Standing Order. This has not been done here, but councillors may well find it advantageous to establish a custom.

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Cornwall

Code of Conduct

For

St Martin By Looe Parish Council

With effect from July 1st, 2012

Conduct for Members

General principles of public life

The Localism Act 2011 requires the Council to adopt a Code of Conduct for Members that is consistent with the following principles:

Selflessness – members should serve only the public interest and should never improperly confer an advantage or disadvantage on any person.

Honesty and integrity – members should not place themselves in situations where their honesty and integrity may be questioned, should not behave improperly, and should on all occasions avoid the appearance of such behaviour.

Objectivity – members should make decisions on merit, including when making appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards or benefits.

Accountability – members should be accountable to the public for their actions and the manner in which they carry out their responsibilities, and should co-operate fully and honestly with any scrutiny appropriate to their particular office.

Openness – members should be as open as possible about their actions and those of their authority, and should be prepared to give reasons for those actions.

Leadership – members should promote and support these principles by leadership, and by example, and should act in a way that secures or preserves public confidence.

St Martin By Looe Parish Council also expects its Members to observe the following principles:

Personal judgement – members may take account of the views of others, including their political groups, but should reach their own conclusions on the issues before them and act in accordance with those conclusions.

Respect for others – members should promote equality by not discriminating unlawfully against any person, and by treating people with respect, regardless of their race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability. They should respect the impartiality and integrity of the authority’s statutory officers and its other employees.

Duty to uphold the law – members should uphold the law and, on all occasions, act in accordance with the trust that the public is entitled to place in them.

Stewardship – members should do whatever they are able to do to ensure that their authorities use their resources prudently, and in accordance with the law.

Whilst these overriding principles are not formally part of the Code of Conduct they underpin the purpose and provisions of the Code of Conduct and are principles in accordance with which Members should conduct themselves.

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Introduction and Interpretation

1. This Code of Conduct has been adopted by St Martin By Looe Parish Council to support its duty to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by Members of the Council as required by the Localism Act 2011.

2. In this Code:

“Member” includes an elected member and a co-opted member

“Monitoring Officer” means the Monitoring Officer of Cornwall Council. This is because the Localism Act 2011 requires the Monitoring Officer of the principal council to discharge certain ethical standards responsibilities in relation to the local councils in their area.

“meeting” means any meeting of the Council and any of the Council’s committees, sub committees, joint committees with other authorities or other formal meetings

“disclosable pecuniary interest” means an interest described in Part 5A of this Code and which is an interest of a Member or an interest of (i) that Member’s spouse or civil partner; (ii) a person with whom that Member is living as husband or wife; or (iii) a person with whom that Member is living as if they were civil partners, and that Member is aware that that other person has the interest

“non-pecuniary interests” mean an interest as defined in Part 5B of this Code

“dispensation” means a dispensation granted by the Council or other appropriate person or body which relieves a Member from one or more of the restrictions set out in sub-paragraphs 3(4)(i), 3(4)(ii) and 3(4)(iii) of Part 3 of this Code to the extent specified in the dispensation

“register” means the register of disclosable pecuniary interests maintained by the Monitoring Officer of the Cornwall Council

“sensitive interest” means an interest that a Member has (whether or not a disclosable pecuniary interest) in relation to which the Member and the Monitoring Officer consider that disclosure of the details of that interest could lead to the Member, or a person connected with the Member, being subject to violence or intimidation

“interest” means any disclosable pecuniary interest or any non-disclosable pecuniary interest where the context permits

3. This Code is arranged as follows:Part 1 Application of the Code of ConductPart 2 General obligationsPart 3 Registering and declaring interestsPart 4 Sensitive interestsPart 5A Pecuniary interestsPart 5B Interests other than pecuniary interests

Part 1 – Application of the Code of Conduct7: Code of Conduct

1. All councillors and members of the public co opted to serve on Council committees and sub committees shall observe the code of conduct adopted by the Council.

2. All councillors and members of the public co opted to serve on Council committees and sub committees shall maintain a Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, and must update their register by notifying the Clerk and Monitoring of any changes within 28 days.

3. All councillors shall undertake training in the code of conduct within 6 months of the delivery of their declaration of acceptance of office.

4. Councillors and members of the public co opted to serve on Council committees and sub committees who have registered a Disclosable Pecuniary in relation to any item of business being transacted at a meeting, shall leave the room whenever the item is being discussed

5. Councillors and members of the public co opted to serve on Council committees and sub committees who have declared a non Registerable interest, in relation to any item of business being transacted at a meeting, shall leave the room whenever the item is being discussed.

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1.1 This Code applies to you as a Member of the Council.

1.2. This Code should be read together with the preceding general principles of public life.

1.3. It is your responsibility to comply with the provisions of this Code.

1.4 Subject to paragraphs 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7 of this Code you must comply with this Code whenever you:(a) conduct the business of the Council, which in this Code includes the business of the office to which you

have been elected or appointed; oract, hold yourself out as acting or conduct yourself in such a way that a third party could reasonably conclude that you are acting as a representative of the Council and references to your official capacity are construed accordingly.

1.5 Where you act as a representative of the Council:(a) on another authority which has a Code of Conduct, you must, when acting for that other

authority, comply with that other authority’s Code of Conduct; or(b) on any other body, you must, when acting for that other body, comply with this Code of

Conduct, except and insofar as it conflicts with any lawful obligations to which that other body may be subject.

1.6 Where you are also a member of an authority other than the Council you must make sure that you comply with the relevant Code of Conduct depending on which role you are acting in. Your conduct may be subject to more than one Code of Conduct depending on the circumstances. Advice can be sought from the proper officer of the Council (usually the Clerk to the Council).

Allegations of breaches of the code of conducta). Notification of any complaint shall remain confidential to the Proper Officer of the Council until such time as the matter has been concluded.b). Where the notification relates to a complaint made by the Proper Officer, the Proper Officer shall notify the Chairman of the St Martin By Looe Parish Council of that fact, who, upon receipt of such notification, shall nominate a person to assume the duties of the Proper Officer set out in the remainder of this standing order, who shall continue to act in respect of that matter as such until the complaint is resolved.c). Where a notification relates to a complaint made by an employee (not being the Proper Officer) the Proper Officer shall ensure that the employee in question does not deal with any aspect of the complaintd). References in standing order 31 to a notification shall be taken to refer to a communication of any kind which relates to a breach or an alleged breach of the code of conduct by a councillor.

Part 2 – General obligations

2.1 You must treat others with respect.

2.2 You must not treat others in a way that amounts to or which may reasonably be construed as unlawfully discriminating against them.

2.3 You must not bully any person.

2.4 You must not conduct yourself in a manner which is contrary to the Council’s duty to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by Members.

2.5 All gifts and hospitality offered or received worth more than fifty pounds must be recorded in the Register of Interests maintained by the Proper Officer of the Council.

2.6 You must not do anything in your official capacity to gain financial or other material benefits for yourself, your family, you friends, your employer or in relation to your other interests.

2.7 You must not intimidate or attempt to intimidate others.

2.8 You must not do anything which compromises or is likely to compromise the impartiality of those who work for or on behalf of the Council.

2.7 You must not disclose information given to you in confidence by anyone, or information acquired by you which you believe, or ought reasonably to be aware, is of a confidential nature, except where –(i) you have the consent of a person authorised to give it;(ii) you are required by law to do so;(iii) the disclosure is made to a third party for the purpose of obtaining professional advice provided

that the third party agrees in writing not to disclose the information to any other person before the information is provided to them; or

(iv) the disclosure is –(aa) reasonable and in the public interest; and

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(bb) made in good faith; and(cc) in compliance with the reasonable requirements of the authority, which requirements

must be demonstrable be reference to an adopted policy, procedure or similar document of the Council or evidenced by advice provided by the proper officer of the Council (usually the Clerk to the Council) or their nominee.

2.8 You must not prevent or attempt to prevent another person from gaining access to information to which that person is entitled by law.

2.9 You must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or the Council into disrepute.

2.10 You must not use or attempt to use your position as a member of the Council improperly to confer on or to secure for yourself or any other person an advantage or disadvantage.

2.11 You must when using the resources of the Council:(i) have the prior formal permission of the Council;(ii) act in accordance with the reasonable requirements of the Council;(iii) ensure that such resources are not used improperly for political purposes (including party

political purposes); and(iv) have regard to any statutory or other requirements relating to local authority publicity.

2.12 You must not authorise the use of the Council’s resources by yourself or any other person other than by your participation in a formal decision made at a meeting and in accordance with the Council’s standing orders or other procedural rules.

2.13 When reaching decisions on any matter you must have regard to any relevant advice provided to you by the proper officer of the Council (usually the Clerk to the Council).

2.14 You must give reasons for all decisions in accordance with any statutory requirements and any reasonable additional requirements imposed by the Council.

Part 3 – Registering and declaring interests and withdrawal from meetings

3.1 The provisions of this Part of this Code are subject to the provisions of Part 4 of this Code relating to sensitive interests.

3.2 Within 28 days of becoming a Member you must notify the Monitoring Officer of any disclosable pecuniary interest that you have at the time of giving the notification.

3.3 Where you become a Member as a result of re-election or your co-option being renewed you need only comply with paragraph 3.1 of this Code to the extent that your disclosable pecuniary interests are not already entered on the register at the time the notification is given.

3.4 You are not required to notify non-pecuniary interests to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion in the register.

3.5 If you are present at a meeting and you are aware that you have a non-pecuniary interest or a disclosable pecuniary interest in any matter being considered or to be considered at the meeting you must disclose that interest to the meeting if that interest is not already entered in the register and, unless you have the benefit of a current and relevant dispensation in relation to that matter, you must:(i) not participate, or participate further, in any discussions of the matter at the meeting;(ii) not participate in any vote, or further vote, taken on the matter at the meeting; and(iii) remove yourself from the meeting while any discussion or vote takes place on the matter, to

the extent that you are required to absent yourself in accordance with the Council’s standing orders or other relevant procedural rules.

3.6 If a disclosable pecuniary interest to which paragraph 3.4 relates is not entered in the register and has not already been notified to the Monitoring Officer at the time of the disclosure you must notify the Monitoring Officer of that interest within 28 days of the disclosure being made at the meeting.

3.7 Within 28 days of becoming aware of any new disclosable pecuniary interest, or change to any disclosable pecuniary interest already registered or notified to the Monitoring Officer, you must notify that new interest or the change in the interest to the Monitoring Officer.

3.8 All notifications of disclosable pecuniary interests to the Monitoring Officer must be made in writing and such disclosures as are made at meetings must be confirmed in writing to the Monitoring Officer.

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3.9 You must notify the proper officer of your Council in writing of the detail of all disclosable pecuniary interests that are notified or confirmed to the Monitoring Officer.

Part 4 – Sensitive interests

4.1 Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of sensitive interests but the details of such interests will not be included in any published version of the register.

4.2 The requirement in paragraph 3(4)(i) of Part 3 of this Code to disclose interests to meetings shall in relation to sensitive interests be limited to declaring the existence of an interest and the detail of the interest need not be declared.

Part 5A – Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

In this Part of the Code the expressions in the left hand column have the meanings attributed to them in the right hand column

“body in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest”

means a firm in which the relevant person is a partner or a body corporate of which the relevant person is a director or in the securities of which the relevant person has a beneficial interest

“director” includes a member of the committee of management of an industrial and provident society

“land” includes an easement, servitude, interest, or right over land which does not carry with it a right for the relevant person (alone or jointly with another) to occupy the land or to receive income

“relevant authority” means the authority of which you are a member“relevant person” means you, your spouse or civil partner, a person with whom

you are living with as husband and wife or a person with whom you are living with as if you are civil partners

“securities” means shares, debentures, debenture stock, loan stock, bonds, units of a collective investment scheme within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and other securities of any description, other than money deposited with a building society

The following table sets out the disclosable pecuniary interests that have been prescribed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Code of Conduct and the Localism Act, 2011

Interest DescriptionEmployment, office, trade, profession or vocation

Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain

Sponsorship Any payment or provision of any other financial benefit (other than from the relevant authority) made or provided within the relevant period in respect of any expenses incurred by you in carrying out your duties as a member, or towards the election expenses of you. This includes any payment or financial benefit from a trade union within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992

Contracts Any contract which is made between the relevant person (or a body which in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest) and the relevant authority under which goods and services are to be provided or works are to be executed and which has not been fully discharged

Land Any beneficial interest in land which is within the area of the relevant authority

Licences Any licence (alone or jointly with others) to occupy land in the area of the relevant authority for a month or longer

Corporate tenancies Any tenancy where, to your knowledge the landlord is the relevant authority and the tenant is a body in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest

Securities Any beneficial interest in securities of any body where that body, to your knowledge, has a place of business or land in the area of the relevant authority and either the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total of the issued share capital of that body or if the share capital of that

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body is of more than one class the total nominal value of the shares in any one class in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest exceeds one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that class

Part 5B – Non-pecuniary interests

You have a non-pecuniary interest where a decision in relation to a matter being determined or to be determined:

(i) might reasonably be regarded as affecting the financial position or well being of you; a member of your family or any person with whom you have a close association; or any body or group which you are a member of more than it might affect the majority of council tax payers, rate payers or inhabitants in the parish; and

(ii) the interest is such that a reasonable person with knowledge of all the relevant facts would consider your interest so significant that it is likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest.

Part 6 – Dispensationsa): A councillor or a member of the public co opted to serve on a Committee or sub committee who has declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Non Registerable Interest in any item of business being transacted at a meeting may submit a written request for a dispensation before the start of the meeting.

b): Consideration of written requests for dispensations shall be a standing item on all agendas of meetings of the council, its committees and sub committees.

c): The Council will not award dispensations to councillors or co opted members of Committees attending any informal meeting of the Council, its committees and sub committees where no record of the proceedings is made.

d): This standing order shall apply to all meetings of the Council, its committees and sub committees.

OPTIONAL

g): The Clerk shall have delegated power to award dispensation in accordance with the Council’s Dispensation Policy.

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FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

1. GENERAL

1.1a The conduct of the affairs of the Council is governed by the statutes, statutory instrument and proper practice for parish and town councils and standing orders of the Council. These regulations should therefore be read in conjunction with those and any other policies or procedures referred to in this document. Any contract or grant condition entered into by the Council that imposes additional conditions shall also have precedence over these regulations.

1.1b These financial regulations govern the conduct of financial management by the Council and may only be amended or varied by resolution of the Council. The council is responsible in law for ensuring that its financial management is adequate and effective and that the council has a sound system of financial control, which facilitates the effective exercise of the council’s functions, including arrangements for the management of risk and for the prevention and detection of fraud and corruption. These financial regulations are designed to demonstrate how the council meets these responsibilities.

1.2 The Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) is a statutory office and shall be appointed by the council. The Accountant has been appointed as RFO for this council and these regulations will apply accordingly. The RFO, acting under the policy direction of the Finance and General Purposes Committee, shall administer the Council's financial affairs in accordance with proper practices. The RFO shall determine on behalf of the council its accounting records, and accounting control systems. The RFO shall ensure that the accounting control systems are observed and that the accounting records of the council are maintained and kept up to date in accordance with proper practices.

1.3 The RFO shall produce financial management information as required by the council.

1.4 At least once a year, prior to approving the annual return, the council shall conduct a review of the effectiveness of its system of internal control, which shall be in accordance with proper practices.

1.5 In these financial regulations, references to the Accounts and Audit Regulations shall mean latest regulations issued and currently in force.

1.6 In these financial regulations the term ‘proper practice’ or ‘proper practices’ shall refer to guidance issued in Governance and Accountability in local Councils in England and Wales – a Practitioners’ Guide which is published jointly by NALC and SLCC and updated from time to time.

1.7 The RFO/ Parish Clerk are responsible for ensuring that all payments are legal and within the powers of the Council.

1.8a The Council must approve the setting up of and any changes to accounts with banks or other financial institutions.

1.8b The Council must approve entry into a ‘pooling’ or ‘sweep’ arrangement whereby the bank periodically aggregates the council’s various balance via automatic transfers.

1.8c If held, corporate credit card accounts must be set up to operate within defined limits and cleared monthly by direct debit from the main bank account.

1.9 Those with direct responsibility for money must undertake appropriate training from time to time.

1.9b The Council has considered Appendix 10 of Governance and Accountability 2014 and has addressed the segregation of duties that relate to all aspects of the Council’s control of money. It has ensured that, where weaknesses exist, compensating controls have been put in place to address those weaknesses and is therefore confident that, so far as practical, it has addressed the security of money and risk of fraud, theft or error in relation to its monetary transactions.

Councillors who have been assigned scrutiny roles in managing the Council’s money are committed to doing so diligently and ensuring they have the appropriate training and updating in the area for which they have responsibility. The Council is committed to supporting such training.

The Council will annually review the arrangements for managing money.

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2. ANNUAL ESTIMATES (BUDGET)

2.1 Each Committee shall formulate and submit proposals to the Parish Councillors in respect of revenue and capital including the use of reserves and all sources of funding for the following financial year not later than the 31st November each year.

2.2 Detailed estimates of all receipts and payments including the use of reserves and all sources of funding for the year shall be prepared each year by the RFO in the form of a budget to be considered by the Parish Councillors.

2.3 The Parish Councillors shall review the budget each year during either November or December and shall fix the Precept to be levied for the ensuing financial year. The RFO shall issue the precept to the billing authority and shall supply each member with a copy of the approved budget.

2.4 The annual budgets shall form the basis of financial control for the ensuing year.

3 BUDGETARY CONTROL

3.1 Expenditure on revenue items may be incurred up to the amounts included for that class of expenditure in the approved budget.

3.2 No expenditure may be incurred that will exceed the amount provided, in excess of £2000, in the revenue budget for that class of expenditure. During the budget year and with the approval of council having considered fully the implications for public services, unspent and available amounts may be moved to other budget headings or to an earmarked reserve as appropriate.

3.3 The RFO shall regularly provide the Parish Councillors with a statement of receipts and payments to date under each head of the budgets, comparing actual expenditure to the appropriate date against that planned as shown in the budget. These statements are to be prepared at least twice a year.

3.4 The RFO/ Parish Clerk may incur expenditure on behalf of the Council which is necessary to carry out any repair replacement or other work which is of such extreme urgency that it must be done at once, whether or not there is any budgetary provision for the expenditure, subject to a limit of £100. The Clerk shall report the action to the Council as soon as practicable thereafter.

3.5 Unspent provisions in the revenue budget shall not be carried forward to a subsequent year unless placed in an earmarked reserve by resolution of the council.

3.6 No expenditure shall be incurred in relation to any capital project and no contract entered into or tender accepted involving capital expenditure unless the Parish Councillors are satisfied that the necessary funds are available, or the requisite borrowing approval has been obtained.

3.7 All capital works shall be administered in accordance with the Council's standing orders and financial regulations relating to contracts.

3.8 Virements – The budget control level for committee expenditure be defined as expenditure on staff, expenditure on other revenue activities, capital expenditure. Provided that overall expenditure is contained within approved totals for these sections of the budget the budget may be adjusted by the RFO/ Parish Clerk without reference to the Committee. A virement may be made by a budget holding committee without reference to Parish Councillors where the RFO confirms the adjustment does not result in any identified ongoing increased contractual obligation to the Council in future years. The Parish Councillors shall consider all other virements. The Parish Councillors may approve virements that do not impact on future years or require the use of additional reserves which shall be determined by the Council.

4. ACCOUNTING AND AUDIT

4.1 All accounting procedures and financial records of the Parish Council shall be determined by the RFO in accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations.

4.2 The RFO shall complete the annual financial statements of the Parish Council, including the parish council’s annual return, as soon as practicable after the end of the financial year and shall submit them and report thereon to the Council.

4.3 The RFO shall complete the Accounts of the Council contained in the Annual Return (as supplied by the Auditor appointed from time to time) and shall submit the Annual Return for approval and authorisation by the Parish Council within the timescales set by the Accounts and Audit Regulations.

4.4 The RFO shall ensure that there is adequate and effective system of internal audit of the Council's accounting, financial and other operations in accordance with proper practices. Any officer or member of the Parish Council shall, if the RFO or Internal Auditor requires, make available such documents of

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the Council which appear to the RFO or Internal Auditor to be necessary for the purpose of the internal audit and shall supply the RFO or Internal Auditor with such information and explanation as the RFO or Internal Auditor considers necessary for that purpose.

4.5 The Internal Auditor shall be appointed by and shall carry out the work required by the council in accordance with proper practices. The Internal Auditor, who shall be competent and independent of the operations of the Parish Council, shall report to Council in writing, or in person, on a regular basis with a minimum of one annual written report in respect of each financial year. In order to demonstrate objectivity and independence, the internal auditor shall be free from any conflicts of interest and have no involvement in the financial decision-making, management or control of the council.

4.6 The RFO shall make arrangements for the opportunity for statutory inspection of the accounts, books, and vouchers and for the display or publication of any Notices and statements of account required.

4.7 The RFO shall, as soon as practicable, bring to the attention of all councillors any correspondence or report from the Internal or External Auditor, unless the correspondence is of a purely administrative matter.

5. BANKING ARRANGEMENTS AND CHEQUES

5.1 The Council's banking arrangements, including the Bank Mandate, shall be made by the RFO and approved by the Parish Council. They shall be regularly reviewed for efficiency.

5.2 A schedule of the payments required, forming part of the Agenda for the Meeting, shall be prepared by the RFO and, together with the relevant invoices, be presented to Parish Council. If the schedule is in order it shall be authorised by a resolution of the Council and shall be signed by 2 Councillors and the RFO who are bank signatories. If more appropriate the detail may be shown in the Minutes of the Meeting.

5.3 Payments drawn on the bank account in accordance with the schedule referred to in paragraph 5.2 or in accordance with paragraph 6.4 shall be signed by two members of Council and the RFO, and where practicable one of these members will be the Chairman.

5.3 Bank reconciliations for all bank accounts shall be performed at least monthly and initialled as correct by the Chairman or Vice-Chairman.

5.4 The Council must approve every bank mandate, the list of authorised signatures for each account, the limits of authority for each account signature and any amendments to mandates.

5.5 The Chairman, Parish Clerk/ RFO can arrange short-term investment of funds on interest bearing deposit accounts with either Lloyds or bank in the name of St Martin by Looe Parish Council. All the transfers of funds from the Parish Council’s deposit account must be made into the Council’s main current account. The closing of an existing account or the setting up of a new account must be approved by Parish Council.

6 PAYMENT OF ACCOUNTS

6.1 When payments have been approved by the Parish Council and the Accounts Outstanding & Addendum to the Accounts Outstanding signed by 2 Councillors and the RFO who are bank signatories, then payments can be made using cheques

6.1a Urgent payment requisitions must be signed by 2 Councillors and the RFO, if payments are required between meetings and may be paid using a cheque.

6.2 All invoices for payment shall be examined, verified and certified by the RFO. The RFO shall satisfy himself that the work, goods or services to which the invoice relates shall have been received, carried out, examined and approved.

6.3 The RFO shall examine invoices in relation to arithmetic accuracy and shall analyse them to the appropriate expenditure heading. The RFO shall take all steps to settle all invoices submitted, and which are in order, at the next available Parish Council Meeting.

6.4 If a payment is necessary to avoid a charge to interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and the due date for payment is before the next scheduled Meeting of Council, where the Clerk/ RFO certify that there is no dispute or other reason to delay payment, the RFO may (notwithstanding para 6.3) take all steps necessary to settle such invoices provided that a list of such payments shall be submitted to the next appropriate meeting of Parish Council.

6.5 No Petty Cash is held by the Parish Council.

Payment for utility supplies (energy, telephone and water) PAYE, VAT, Cornwall Council and suppliers may be made by variable Direct Debit or payment by Cheque provided that the approval is signed by two Councillors and the RFO who are bank signatories and any payments are reported to council as

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made. The approval of the use of a variable Direct Debit shall be renewed by resolution of the council at least every year.

7 PAYMENT OF SALARIES

7.1 As an employer, the council shall make arrangements to meet fully the statutory requirements placed on all employers by PAYE and National Insurance legislation. The payment of all salaries shall be made in accordance with payroll records and the rules of PAYE and National Insurance currently operating, and salaries shall be as agreed by Parish Council.

7.2 Payment of salaries and payment of deductions from salary such as may be made for tax, national insurance and pension contributions, or similar statutory or discretionary deductions, may be made in accordance with the payroll records and on the appropriate dates stipulated in employment contracts, provided that the total payment is reported to and ratified by the next available Parish Council Meeting.

Currently Parish Clerk /RFO salary is paid by BT Global for Cornwall Council.

8 LOANS AND INVESTMENTS

8.1 All loans and investments shall be negotiated in the name of the Parish Council and shall be for a set period in accordance with Council policy.

8.2 The council shall implement an Investment Policy which, shall be in accordance with relevant regulations, proper practices and guidance. This Policy shall be reviewed annually..

8.3 All investments of money under the control of the Council shall be in the name of the Council.

8.4 All borrowings shall be effected in the name of the Council, after obtaining any necessary borrowing approval. Any application for borrowing approval shall be approved by Council as to terms and purpose. The terms and conditions of borrowings shall be reviewed at least annually.

8.5 All investment certificates and other documents relating thereto shall be retained in the custody of the RFO.

9 INCOME

9.1 The collection of all sums due to the Parish Council shall be the responsibility of and under the supervision of the RFO.

9.2 Particulars of all charges to be made for work done, services rendered or goods supplied shall be agreed annually by the Parish Council, notified to the RFO and the RFO shall be responsible for the collection of all accounts due to the Parish Council.

9.3 The Parish Council will review all fees and charges annually, following a report of the Clerk.

9.4 Any sums found to be irrecoverable and any bad debts shall be reported to the Parish Council and shall be written off in the year.

9.5 All sums received on behalf of the Parish Council shall be banked intact as directed by the RFO. In all cases, all receipts shall be deposited with the Council's bankers with such frequency as the RFO considers necessary.

9.6 The origin of each receipt shall be entered on the paying-in slip.

9.7 Personal cheques shall not be cashed out of money held on behalf of the Council.

9.8 The RFO shall promptly complete any VAT Return that is required.

9.9 Where any significant sums of cash are regularly received by the Parish Council, the RFO shall take such steps as are agreed by the Council to ensure that more than one person is present when the cash is counted in the first instance, that there is a reconciliation to some form of control such as ticket issues, and that appropriate care is taken in the security and safety of individuals banking such cash.

10 ORDERS FOR WORK, GOODS AND SERVICES

10.1 An official order or letter shall be issued for all work, goods and services unless a formal contract is made or an official order would be inappropriate as decided by the RFO. Copies of orders shall be retained.

10.2 Order books shall be controlled by the RFO.

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10.3 All members and Officers are responsible for obtaining value for money at all times. An officer issuing an official order shall ensure as far as reasonable and practicable that the best available terms are obtained in respect of each transaction, usually by obtaining three or more quotations or estimates from appropriate suppliers, subject to any de minimis provisions in Regulation 11 (I) below.

11 CONTRACTS

11.1 Procedures as to contracts are laid down as follows:

(a) Every contract shall comply with these financial regulations, and no exceptions shall be made otherwise than in an emergency provided that these regulations shall not apply to contracts which relate to items (i) to (vi) below:

(i) for the supply of gas, electricity, water, sewerage and telephone services;

(ii) for specialist services such as are provided by solicitors, accountants, surveyors and planning consultants;

(iii) for work to be executed or goods or materials to be supplied which consist of repairs to or parts for existing machinery or equipment or plant;

(iv) for work to be executed or goods or materials to be supplied which constitute an extension of an existing contract by the Council;

(v) for additional audit work of the external Auditor.

(vi) for goods or materials proposed to be purchased which are proprietary articles and/or are only sold at a fixed price.

(b) Where it is intended to enter into a contract exceeding £75,000 in value for the supply of goods or materials or for the execution of works or specialist services other than such goods, materials, works or specialist services as are excepted as set out in paragraph (a) the RFO/ Clerk shall invite tenders from at least three firms.

(c) When applications are made to waive financial regulations relating to contracts to enable a price to be negotiated without competition the reason shall be embodied in a recommendation to the Council.

(d) Such invitation to tender shall state the general nature of the intended contract and the Clerk shall obtain the necessary technical assistance to prepare a specification in appropriate cases. The invitation shall in addition state that tenders must be addressed to the RFO in the ordinary course of post. Each tendering firm shall be supplied with a specifically marked envelope in which the tender is to be sealed and remain sealed until the prescribed date for opening tenders for that contract.

(e) All sealed tenders shall be opened at the same time on the prescribed date by the RFO in the presence of the Chairman and one other member of the Parish Council, if the Chair is unavailable another the Vice-Chairman will be present.

(f) If less than three tenders are received for contracts above £75,000 or if all the tenders are identical the Parish Council may make such arrangements as it thinks fit for procuring the goods or materials or executing the works.

(g) When it is to enter into a contract less than £75,000 and more than £10,000 in value for the supply of goods or materials or for the execution of works or specialist services other than such goods, materials, works or specialist services as are excepted as set out in paragraph (a) the Clerk/ RFO shall seek not less than 3 quotations (priced descriptions of the proposed supply); where the value is below £10,000 and above £2000 the Clerk or RFO shall strive to obtain 3 estimates. Otherwise, Regulation 10 (3) above shall apply.

(h) The Council shall not be obliged to accept the lowest or any tender, quote or estimate.

(i) The successful tenderers for major capital contracts will be asked to provide the guarantee of an insurance company bond or other suitable insolvency cover approved by the Council in a sum normally equal to 10% of the tender sum.

12. PAYMENTS UNDER CONTRACTS FOR BUILDING OR OTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKS

12.1 Payments on account of the contract sum shall be made within the time specified in the contract by the RFO upon authorised certificates of the architect or other consultants engaged to supervise the contract (subject to any percentage withholding as may be agreed in the particular contract).

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12.2 Where contracts provide for payment by instalments the RFO shall maintain a record of all such payments. In any case where it is estimated that the total cost of work carried out under a contract, excluding agreed variations, will exceed the contract sum by 10% or more a report shall be submitted to the Council.

12.3 Any variation to a contract or addition to or omission from a contract must be approved by the Council and Clerk to the Contractor in writing, the Council being informed where the final cost is likely to exceed the financial provision.

13 STORES AND EQUIPMENT

13.1 The Parish Clerk shall be responsible for the care and custody of stores and equipment held by the Parish Council.

13.2 Delivery Notes shall be obtained in respect of all goods received into store or otherwise delivered and goods must be checked as to order and quality at the time delivery is made.

13.3 Stocks shall be kept at the minimum levels consistent with operational requirements.

13.4 The RFO shall be responsible for periodic checks of stocks and stores at least annually.

14 ASSETS, PROPERTIES AND ESTATES

14.1 The Parish Clerk shall make appropriate arrangements for the custody of all title deeds and Land Registry Certificates of properties owned by the Parish Council (if applicable). The RFO shall ensure a record is maintained of all properties owned by the Council, recording the location, extent, plan, reference, purchase details, nature of the interest, tenancies granted, rents payable and purpose for which held in accordance with Accounts and Audit Regulations.

14.2 No property shall be sold, leased or otherwise disposed of without the authority of the Council, together with any other consents required by law, save where the estimated value of any one item of tangible movable property does not exceed £250.

14.3 The RFO shall ensure that an appropriate and accurate Register of Assets and Investments is kept up to date. The continued existence of tangible assets shown in the Register shall be verified at least annually, possibly in conjunction with a health and safety inspection of assets.

15 INSURANCE

15.1 Following the annual risk assessment (per Financial Regulation 16), the RFO/ Parish Clerk shall effect all insurances and negotiate all claims on the Council's insurers.

15.2 The Parish Clerk shall give prompt notification to the Parish Councillors all new risks, properties or vehicles which require to be insured and of any alterations affecting existing insurances.

15.3 The RFO/ Parish Clerk shall keep a record of all insurances effected by the Council and the property and risks covered thereby and annually review it.

15.4 The RFO/ Parish Clerk shall be notified of any loss liability or damage or of any event likely to lead to a claim, and shall report these to Council at the next available meeting.

15.5 All appropriate employees of the Parish Council shall be included in a suitable fidelity guarantee insurance which shall cover the maximum risk exposure as determined by the Council.

16 RISK MANAGEMENT

16.1 The council is responsible for putting in place arrangements for the management of risk. The RFO/ Parish Clerk shall organise, for approval by the council, risk management policy statements in respect of all activities of the council. Risk policy statements and consequential risk management arrangements shall be reviewed by the council at least annually.

16.2 When considering any new activity, the RFO/ Parish Clerk shall prepare a draft risk assessment including risk management proposals for consideration and adoption by the council.

16.3 Access to computer software containing financial information will be password protected. The passwords will be individual to members of staff or members of the Council and will be changed on a regular basis.

16.4 All staff and members using computers for the Council’s financial business shall ensure that anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and automatic updates are used, together with a high level of security.

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17 REVISION OF FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

17.1 It shall be the duty of the Parish Council to review the Financial Regulations of the Council from time to time. The Clerk shall make arrangements to monitor changes in legislation or proper practices and shall advise the council of any requirement for a consequential amendment to these financial regulations.

* * * *

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