Functions of the Full Council
Only the Council will exercise
the following functions:
(a) adopting and changing the
Constitution;
(b) approving or adopting the
policy framework and the budget;
(c) subject to the urgency
procedure contained in the Access to Information Procedure Rules in
Appendix 6 of this Constitution, making decisions about any matter
in the discharge of a Cabinet function which is covered by the
policy framework or the budget where the decision maker is minded
to make it in a manner which would be
contrary to the policy framework or contrary to, or not wholly in
accordance with, the budget;
(d) appointing the Leader;
(e) agreeing or amending the
terms of reference for committees, deciding on their composition
and making appointments to them;
(f) appointing representatives
to outside bodies unless the appointment is aa Cabinet function or
has been delegated by the Council;
(g) adopting a Members’ allowances scheme under Appendix
15;
(h) changing the name of the
area;
(i)
confirming the appointment of the Head of Paid Service;
(j) making, amending, revoking,
re-enacting or adopting bye-laws and
promoting or opposing the making of local legislation or personal
Bills;
(k) all other matters which, by
law, must be reserved to Council.
(l) consideration of
settlements and exit packages on termination of employment or
remuneration on appointment in excess of
£100,000.
Public
Participation
The Council's
constitution makes provision for public questions to be asked at
meetings of the Council. The relevant information is below. Please
contact democratic.services@derbyshire.gov.uk for further
information
Members of the
public who are on the register of electors, or are tax payers or non-domestic tax payers in the County
of Derbyshire, may ask questions of Cabinet Members at ordinary
Council Meetings.
A question may
only be asked if notice has been given by delivering it in writing
or by electronic mail to the Director of Legal and Democratic
Services (via democratic.services@derbyshire.gov.uk) no later than
12 noon at least 10 working days before the Council Meeting
(i.e. on a Wednesday 2 weeks before a
Council meeting on a Wednesday). Late
questions may be asked provided they relate to a report on the
agenda and could not have been put before publication of the agenda
and notice has been given by delivering it in writing or by
electronic email to the Director of Legal and Democratic Services
no later than 12 noon at least three working days before the
Council Meeting (i.e. on a Friday when
Council meets on the following Wednesday). The notice must give the name and address of
the questioner and the name of the Cabinet Member to whom the
question is to be put.
At any one
Council Meeting no person may submit more than one question, and no
more than one such question may be asked on behalf of one
organisation.
The Director of
Legal and Democratic Services may reject a question if
it:
• exceeds 150
words in length;
• is not about a
matter for which the Council has a
responsibility,
or
which affects Derbyshire;
• asks Council
to act in a way that is ultra vires (outside its
powers), unlawful or illegal;
• is defamatory,
frivolous or offensive;
• is
substantially the same as a question which has been put
at a Council
Meeting in the past six months; or
• requires the
disclosure of confidential or exempt information.
Questions for
which 10 working days’ notice has been given and have not
been rejected will be listed in the agenda in the order in which
they were received. Questions will be asked in the order notice of
them was received, except that the Chairman may group together
similar questions.
The Chairman
will invite the questioner to put the question to the Cabinet
Member named in the notice. If
the questioner who has submitted a written question is unable to be
present, they may ask the Chairman to put the question on their
behalf. In the absence of the
questioner, the Chairman may ask the question on the
questioner’s behalf, indicate that a written reply will be
given, or decide that the question will not be dealt
with.
If the Cabinet
Member to whom the question is asked is unable to be present, the
Chairman may put the question to another Cabinet Member or indicate
that a written reply will be given.
A questioner who
has put a question in person may also put one supplementary
question without notice to the Cabinet Member who has replied to
their original question. A
supplementary question must arise directly out of the original
question or the reply and may be rejected by the Chairman on any of
the grounds in Standing Order 9.4.
The maximum
period of time for questions by the
public at a Council Meeting shall be 30 minutes. This period may be
extended at the discretion of the Chairman. Any questions not answered at the end of the time
allocated for questions by the public will be answered in
writing.
The Director of
Legal and Democratic Services will keep a record, open to public
inspection, of all public questions received and will immediately
send a copy of the question to the Member to whom it is to be
put. Rejected questions will include
reasons for the rejection. Copies of
all late questions that could not be listed in the agenda will be
circulated to all Members and will be made available to the public
attending the meeting. The Director of
Legal and Democratic Services will be responsible for sending to
the questioner a copy of the answer provided at the Council Meeting
as soon as practicable after the meeting.
Where a written
response is to be given to a question, the response shall be sent
to the questioner as soon as reasonably practicable after the
Council Meeting, but in any event within 10 days.