Public participation in committee meetings

You are welcome to attend ordinary meetings of the council, meetings of the executive and of committees, but the meetings are conducted by councillors. The meetings are held in public so residents can observe the process, hear the debate and see how decisions are made for all items taken in open session.

You may ask questions or make statements at ordinary meetings of the council, meetings of the executive and of committees. Ahead of the meeting you may submit one question or statement. Only one question or statement can be made on behalf of an individual, one organisation or group. You must give notice and provide the text of your question or statement to Democratic Services no later than midday, three working days before the meeting. You can find contact details on the committee details page on our democracy website.

You will be asked to confirm your attendance at the meeting to present your question or statement. If you are unable to attend, you may ask a representative to put the question or make the statement on your behalf. Except in exceptional circumstances, if you are not able to attend the meeting and no one can attend on your behalf, the question or statement will not be dealt with at the meeting and a written response will be provided to you.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) may reject a question or statement if it:

• is not submitted by a person who can demonstrate a connection to North Yorkshire through living, working or studying in the county
• is not about a matter for which the local authority has a responsibility or which affects the county
• does not relate to an item for decision on the council agenda, in relation to full council meetings
• is defamatory, frivolous or offensive
• is essentially a complaint about and/or appeal against a committee decision
• is directed to full council and relates to a planning matter (unless the matter is specifically on the agenda for that full council meeting)
• is not within the purview of that particular committee
• is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of the council in the past six months
• is submitted by an individual, organisation or group who has submitted a question or statement to full council or the Executive in the previous six months; [in respect of a purported question/statement for a full council meeting]
• is submitted by a publicly declared candidate for election during the pre-election period
• requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information.

At the meeting:

• you will be given no more than three minutes to ask your question or read your statement
• you may put one supplementary question without notice in response to the reply you receive - the question must arise directly out of your original question or the reply and is permitted solely for the purpose of clarifying the information provided in response to your original question, you will be given no more than 30 seconds to ask a supplementary question
• the total time allowed at any meeting for public questions and statements is 30 minutes
• if it is not possible to provide a response at the meeting, you will be provided with a written response within two weeks

Planning committee meetings

We operate a scheme for public speaking at planning committee meetings. Normally the following people can speak, in this order, in relation to any specific application on the agenda:

• speaker representing the objectors
• parish council representative
• local division councillor
• at the appropriate time, any other person allowed to speak at the discretion of the Chairman will be allowed five minutes to put their case
• speaker representing the applicant

Each speaker has five minutes to present their case.

The speaker representing the objector(s) can be a neighbour, an interested individual or a representative of a residents’ group. Where there is more than one person wishing to speak, objectors are encouraged to agree on a spokesperson, usually the first person who registered to speak, who is prepared to cover all the points of concern.

Persons wishing to speak on an application and who have previously made representations on the application should contact Democratic Services by midday, three clear working days before the Planning Committee meeting. Contact details will be provided on the relevant Planning Committee agenda. The purpose of the scheme is to enable speakers to put forward any points they wish to make directly to the committee. There will be no need to read any submission already made in writing, as this will already be summarised in the report councillors have before them.

Speakers should confine their comments to matters relevant to planning applications.

You cannot hand out documentation to members of the committee except at the discretion of the Chair. Photographs may be handed out, provided that a minimum of 20 copies have been delivered to the council by midday on the last working day prior to the meeting. There is no provision to display maps, photographs or other information on boards or on screens in the meeting room on behalf of those making representations at the meeting.

More information may be found in the Code of Practice for Councillors and officers dealing with planning matters (see point 12).

Audio and visual recording, live streaming and photography at meetings

We are committed to being open and transparent in the way we conduct our decision-making. Recording and live-streaming is welcomed at the council and committee and sub-committee meetings which are open to the public and we live-stream a number of the meetings via YouTube.

Members of the public wishing to record or live-stream a meeting are asked to observe the council’s protocol on audio and visual recording, live streaming and photography at meetings, to help make sure that filming and recording is carried out respectfully and without disruption to those involved in the meeting.

If any member of the public speaking at the meeting does not wish to be filmed or recorded, the Chair will ask them to make this known.