Have Your Say
This page explains what to do it you want to speak about an item at a council, committee or scrutiny panel meeting, present a petition or ask a question at a meeting. This information is also available as a leaflet How to Have Your Say at a Council Meeting Leaflet (pdf file)
Attending Council Meetings
You are welcome to attend all meetings of the Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny Panels and Committees which take place at the Council Offices, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland. Meetings are usually held in the Council Chamber and the public gallery is clearly signed and fully accessible. Occasionally, if confidential or exempt information is to be considered, you might be asked to leave the meeting. You can inspect agendas, reports and the Cabinet’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions to find out when a particular topic which you might be interested in will be discussed by councillors and consider whether to express your views on the matter. If you wish to make your views known, there are a number of options open to you including contacting your Ward Councillor(s).
Your local Councillor(s)
Your local councillor(s) will always be happy to hear your views on any issue which affects your local area or Rutland as a whole. You can contact your local councillor(s) prior to any meeting and ask him/her to highlight your views at the meeting.
County Councillor Contact Information
Expressing Your Views
The Council offers all members of the public the opportunity to submit a petition, deputation and/or written question to any of its meetings however, there is no provision to speak at meetings of the Cabinet. If you wish to submit a petition, present a deputation or ask a question, you must give written notification to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services at the Council Offices no later than 4.30pm on the second working day before the meeting at which you wish to present it, (eg for a meeting on a Monday, by 4.30pm on the preceding Thursday). NB: Special arrangements apply to the Development Control and Licensing Committee – please contact the Democratic Services Officer on (01572) 722577 for details of how to present petitions, deputations and questions to these meetings.
Presenting a Petition
You must indicate who will present the petition at the meeting and ensure that the addresses of those signing the petition are clearly shown. At the meeting:-
- The person presenting the petition will read out, or summarise, the nature of the petition, indicate the number and description of signatories, and make further supporting remarks relevant to the petition, if they wish.
- The Chairman will allow a total of 5 minutes for the presentation of the petition.
Please see the document "Petitions Scheme" (pdf file) which explains the full process for submitting a Petition to the Council or if your Petitions asks for a Senior Officer to give evidence at a public meeting.
Presenting a Deputation
You must indicate the subject matter to which the deputation relates, the number, names and addresses of the persons who will form the deputation and who will speak.
At the meeting:-
- All remarks must relate to the subject matter of the deputation only.
- The Chairman will allow a total of 5 minutes for the presentation of a deputation.
- Councillors may ask questions of the members of the deputation for a further period of 5 minutes. These questions must be asked and answered without discussion.
Asking a Question
You must indicate who will ask the question at the meeting and ensure that your written notification to the Head of Democratic Services including the questioner’s address.
At the meeting:-
- Each question must be restricted to a single topic.
- The total time allowed by the Chairman, for each questioner including the response will be 5 minutes.
- If the person who is to ask the question is not present at the meeting, the question will not be considered, unless the question was to be asked by a representative and s/he is absent, then the person who gave written notification may still ask the question.
- After a question has received a reply, the questioner may ask one supplementary question for the purposes of clarifying the reply.
- Every question will be asked and answered without discussion.
NB: There is no provision for asking questions at short notice at full Council meetings.
Further Information
If you have any queries relating to this information please contact Democratic Services 01572 722577
