Policies and Procedures

1.   Purpose
2.   Reasons for vacancies
3.   Vacancies after ordinary parish council elections
4.   Procedure for filling casual vacancies
5.   Qualifications
6.   Co-option
7.   Notes on legislation
8.   Review
9.   Version control and amendment history

Appendices

1   Notice of vacancy following a scheduled election
2   Notice of vacancy following resignation or other reason
3   Parish councillor person specification
 

1   Purpose

1.1   Doddington and Whisby Parish Council has seven seats which are available for election on a four-yearly basis. Seats which are not filled by election may be made available for co-option.

1.2   The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the Council has a clear process for dealing with vacancies and to give information to members of the public of how a vacancy may be filled.

1.3   Doddington and Whisby Parish council will endeavour to fill any vacancy (vacancies) at the earliest opportunity.

2   Reasons for vacancies

2.1 Seats left vacant following a scheduled election

Doddington and Whisby has seven seats available for election on a four-yearly basis.

•   If the number of nominations is greater than seven, an election will be held.
•   If the number of nominations is seven, the election is uncontested. Those nominated are elected.
•   If the number of nominations is fewer than seven, the election is uncontested. Those nominated are elected. The vacant seats are available for co-option.

2.2   Resignation

A councillor may resign at any time by giving written notice to the chairman of the parish council. The chairman must accept the resignation. There is no legal procedure for withdrawing a notice of resignation once delivered and accepted.

Resignation takes effect immediately upon receipt and cannot be post-dated.

2.3   Disqualification

Reasons for disqualification include but are not limited to:

•   bankruptcy;
•   being employed by or doing paid work for the council (except as a contractor);
•   a criminal conviction with a prison sentence of three months or more;
•   illegal expenditure;
•   being found guilty of corrupt or illegal practices in election law.

2.4   Other causes of vacancy

•   death;
•   failure to sign a declaration of acceptance of office;
•   failure to attend meetings for a period of six consecutive months.
 

3.   Vacancies after ordinary parish council elections

3.1 If fewer valid nominations were received for any ward within the parish council boundaries at the four yearly elections, all those validly nominated will be declared elected.

3.1 If enough councillors are elected to form a quorum, the parish council should seek to fill any remaining vacant seats by co-option as soon as possible after the election date. Should it fail to fill the vacant seats within thirty-five working days (excluding bank holidays and weekends), or if not enough councillors were elected to form a quorum, North Kesteven District Council may order another election.

4.   Procedure for filling casual vacancies

4.1   When a casual vacancy arises on the parish council due to death, resignation or disqualification, the process to fill the vacancy is as follows:

4.1.1   The clerk to council must notify the returning officer at North Kesteven District Council of the vacancy.

4.1.2   Different arrangements apply depending on the timing of the vacancy.

4.2   Calling an Election

During the period of fourteen working days from the date the public notice of the vacancy was displayed, ten electors from the parish can call for an election to be held to fill the vacancy. They must make their request in writing to the returning officer (via the clerk to council if required).

4.2.1   If an election is called

If a request for election is received from ten electors within the fourteen days, the returning officer will set a date for the election (which must be within sixty days of the date of the vacancy notice).

Notices will be displayed announcing the election and explaining how to apply to be a candidate for election. The cost of any election is borne by Doddington and Whisby Parish Council. If there are not enough nominated candidates at the election to fill the vacancies, a further election must be called. Co-option is not permitted in these circumstances.

4.2.2   If an election is not called

If a request for election is not received from ten electors within the fourteen days, the parish council will be notified by the returning officer. The council must fill the position by co-option as soon as practicable.

5.   Qualifications

5.1   Qualifications for becoming a member of a parish or town council, are set down by legislation.

5.2   To be a parish councillor, a candidate must be either

•   British;
•   a Commonwealth national;
•   an Irish or European Union citizen;

and eighteen years of age or over, and fulfil one or more of the following criteria:

i.   being on and remaining on the register of electors for the parish:

or, during the whole of the twelve months preceding the nomination;

ii.   have lived in, worked in or lived within three miles of the parish boundary.

5.3   Should a candidate only meet the criteria of point i above on the nomination form and subsequently come off the register of electors, the qualification would lapse.

The other three qualifications remain valid for the four-year term, so even if a successful candidate left the parish s/he would not be required to resign, although it might be considered appropriate to do so.

6   Co-option

6.1   Although the process for co-option is not prescribed in law, District Councils and County Associations provide best practice advice and guidelines.

6.2   It is especially important that all applicants be treated alike so that the arrangements are seen as open, fair and transparent. The co-option process adopted by Doddington and Whisby Parish Council is as follows.
 
6.3   The Parish council will consider any interested applicants who have gone through the nomination/ election process in the first instance;

6.4   If those persons do not wish to be considered for co-option or are considered unsuitable by the parish council, the parish council will advertise any vacancies using parish council noticeboards, website, newsletters, social media and/or any other appropriate methods.

The notices will include:

•   The contact details of the clerk to council to enable prospective co-option candidates to obtain further information on the role of a parish councillor;
•   Details of the co-option process;
•   The closing date for expressions of interest;
•   The date on which the parish council intends to make a decision.

6.5   The parish council (or a parishioner) can legally approach individuals to suggest that they might wish to consider putting their names forward for co-option.

6.6   When the applications are received, the clerk to council will review all application details and check that applicants meet the qualification requirements.

6.7   Candidates may be asked to submit a short letter with a brief CV giving reasons why they should be considered for the vacancy. These letters will be circulated to elected councillors before the meeting at which the decision will be made.

6.8   Notice of consideration of vacancies must be given in the appropriate agenda for a meeting of the parish council. Candidates may be invited to the meeting to make a brief presentation and to provide elected councillors the opportunity to ask questions. The parish council retains the right to rely on written submissions alone. Presentations and questioning take part in public.

6.9   Discussion by members of council of presentations from candidates, proposals that candidates may be considered as candidates and voting take place in private. Candidates and other members of the public will be asked to leave the room at that point.

6.10   Co-option Voting Process

6.10.1   If there are equal or fewer candidates than vacancies, the parish council can vote on a composite motion, duly proposed and seconded, that all candidates be co-opted.

6.10.2   If there are more duly proposed and seconded candidates than seats, it will be necessary for existing councillors present at the meeting to vote.

6.10.3   Arnold Baker on “Local Council Administration” (12th Edition) recommends that:

A successful candidate should have received an absolute majority vote of those present and voting. If there are more than two candidates for one vacancy and none of them at the first count has an overall majority, the candidate with the fewest votes should be eliminated and the remainder put to the vote again. The process should be repeated as necessary until one candidate has an overall majority.

Each vacancy should be filled by a separate vote or series of votes. In a small council there is a distinct possibility that there could be a tie for last place in the first round of voting, leaving the candidate for elimination to be decided by lots.

6.11   The clerk to council will notify the candidates of the results in person, by telephone or by email, as soon as is reasonably possible. This is not the duty of any elected member.

6.12   Successfully co-opted candidates become councillors in their own right with immediate effect, and are no different to any other member. As such, they must sign a declaration of acceptance of office and complete and return a register of interests form at their first meeting, or within twenty-eight calendar days of election, whichever is the sooner. Their term of office runs until the next quadrennial elections for the parish council.

7   Notes on legislation

This content within this document is based upon a study of legislation and adopted practices of district and parish councils nationwide and follows advice from the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils.

It is intended as a summary of the most relevant points of procedure and legislation rather than a definitive exposition. Unless specified otherwise, periods of days given in this document refer to working days excluding weekends and public holidays.

Legislation covering casual vacancies can be found at:  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/3305/article/5/made?view=plain

Date calculation is given in Schedule 2 Part 1 paragraph 2 of Statutory Instrument 2006/3305 and can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/3305/schedule/2/made
 

8   Review

8.1 This policy should be reviewed on a biennial basis or in response to changes in relevant legislation.

9   Version control and amendment history