Time is set aside at our full council meetings to enable you to ask Cabinet members a question. The question must relate to our council’s business or an issue which affects our borough. This is done through the Mayor who chairs these meetings.
Please note, that the Question procedure has been revised.
We are only able to take a maximum of six questions from members of the public for each meeting.
The question must include the name and address of the questioner and name the Cabinet Member to whom it is to be put.
They must be received in writing to the Democratic Services Manager at the Council Offices, or by email to democratic.services@hertsmere.gov.uk no earlier than midnight 28 days prior to the day of the meeting, and no later than midday, 14 days prior to the meeting.
Not all questions will be suitable for consideration and sometimes a direct response may be more appropriate. In general your question might be rejected where:
is not about a matter for which the Authority has a responsibility or which affects the Borough;
is defamatory, frivolous or offensive;
is related to a current Planning or Licensing application;
is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of the Council in the past six months;
relates to the conduct of an individual Member or Officer; or
requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information- this might relate to an individual or negotiations that the Council are involved in for example.
In all cases Officers will contact you to discuss the options.
Please note: There is no public question time at the Annual Meeting of the Council (usually May), the meeting that sets the Budget (usually February) or at any Extraordinary Meetings of the Council.
Some of the key rules and parameters are set out formally in our Constitution
Questions will be asked in the order that they are received
The Chief Executive or Head of Legal and Democratic Services may reject a question
Further details are given in the constitution (part 4.1).
Separately Councillors can also ask questions at Council. These can be to Cabinet Members or to the chairs of our committees and follows a similar process.
