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Meeting Schedule and Committee Membership

Committees 2023-24bThe meeting schedule for 2023 – 2024 can be found below, the agenda for these meetings can be found under the committee subheading 3 full days prior to the meeting date.  The agendas can be found on the website and on the noticeboard at The Old Fire Station, Southend Road.

At the Annual Council meeting Councillors are appointed to Committees, these committees are delegated responsibilities from Council which can be found in the Terms of Reference on the policy page of the website.

Meeting Schedule 2023-2024

Committees 2023 24

Minutes of Council Committee Meetings

Note- It is the Council’s intention to publish the draft minutes of their meetings within four weeks of the meeting. However, you should remember that the minutes will not become a part of the councils dataset until they have been approved at the next meeting. Until then, they may be subject to change so you should not rely on them as a definitive account of the meeting.

All meetings are held at the Parish Hall, 58 Southend Road, Hockley SS5 4QH.

Please note that following the publication of the Openness of Local Government Regulations 2014, members of the public can record and publish audio and video records of this meeting. If you wish to attend the meeting, but do not wish to be recorded doing so, please contact the Clerk for guidance.

Introduction – The Council

Committees are concerned with the longer-term policy and budgets issues; the committee’s role is to define what the Council is going to achieve, the standards it will set, and to make corrections if the goals or standards are not being met.

To achieve this, the committee has delegated powers defined in its terms of reference. These are agreed by the council and renewed annually; they set the limits of spending and authority so there is no need for the committee’s decisions to be challenged or debated in council. Provided the decision is within the council’s policy and within the committee’s remit and budget, it cannot be challenged.

Terms of reference common to all committees.

  • All meetings of Parish Council committees will be convened in accordance with the Parish Council’s standing orders. Meetings will be minuted by the Clerk to the Council or a delegated member of staff or a member of the committee.
  • Committees may authorise expenditure or amend fees provided the decision is consistent with the responsibilities of the committee and within the budget set for that activity or within any additional budget for work authorised by full council or the Resources and Procedures committee during the course of the financial year.
  • Minutes will be circulated to all council members and will be presented at full council for agreement. Agreement is given to acknowledge that the decisions have been reached within the powers delegated to that committee. For decisions taken within those powers, further approval is not needed.
  • Councillors shall indicate their preferences for Committee Membership in advance of the Annual General Meeting, and the list of potential members will be circulated with the agenda of that meeting. Membership of all the committees will be as decided at the Annual General Meeting each year, subject to the proviso that the chairman and vice-chairman of the Parish Council shall, in any event, be ex officio members. The committee shall be subject to a quorum of half of its members or three whichever is the greater.
  • The Resources and Procedures Committee will comprise of at least six councillors, of which three will be the chairs of Environmental & Open Spaces Committee, Communities Committee and Personnel Subcommittee.
  • The chairman of the committee will be elected by the committee at its first meeting after the Annual Parish Council meeting. The vice-chairman of the committee will be elected by the committee at its first meeting after the Annual Parish Council meeting. Until a new chairman is elected, the chairman from the previous year retains that office.
  • Parish Councillors not on a committee may attend meetings but not vote.
  • The press and public may be excluded from committee meetings if their presence is prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted or for other special reasons. The public’s exclusion shall be by a resolution which shall give reasons for that exclusion.
  • Committees may create working groups to deliver a specific objective. These groups will work within an agreed brief and budget so there is minimal need to refer decisions back to a parent committee or council. Working groups will be wound-up at the completion of their task.
  • Committees may create sub-committees. These may consist of councillors and non-councillors with equal voting rights. Advertising the time and place of the sub-committee will be at the discretion of the members, but is not required as the public do not have an automatic right to attend. Sub-committees may make such decisions as have been delegated to them, but these decisions will be reported to the responsible committee.
  • The meeting calendar will be based on monthly cycle with meetings on the first, second, third and fourth Mondays of the month. Planning will meet fortnightly; full council and resources and performance will meet monthly while the hall committee will meet on the second Monday of alternate months. Environment will meet on the first Monday of every other month.
  • Where a meeting would normally fall on a bank holiday, the meeting will be held on the following Tuesday.
  • Unless otherwise advertised, meetings will be held at the Old Firestation, 58 Southend Road, Hockley SS5 4QH

“Hockley Parish Council is committed to being a council with a brave forward vision to create and maintain a vibrant
and inclusive community in Hockley.”