In general, each committee has a Chair who presides over the meeting, taking charge of the way it is conducted. Before speaking, you must signal to the Chair that you want to speak to the meeting.  The decision of the Chair on all questions of order, relevance and regularity and the interpretation of Procedure Rules shall be final and not open to discussion. It is the duty of the Chair to stop any discussion which, in their judgement, is irrelevant or outside the work of the Committee or Council. 

Whilst we understand that there will be disagreements about policies, reports and decisions, all Councillors should show each other mutual respect at meetings and be well behaved. Personal or derogatory remarks about other councillors or officers must be avoided. In accordance with the Code of Conduct, Councillors must be good ambassadors for the Council at all times and not do anything that would negatively affect the reputation of the Council or that would bring themselves or the Council into disrepute. 

Each committee has its own set of procedure rules and you should familiarise yourselves with these (set out in Part 4 of the Constitution) before attending the first meeting of that Committee. You should also familiarise yourself with the General Member Protocol which sets out expectations on things such as sending apologies to committees that you are unable to attend. 

Agendas will be sent out for each meeting with the accompanying reports attached. Agendas are usually published at least five clear working days before the meeting and are available via Modern.gov. Agendas will usually include an item on Member interests. If you have an interest to declare in relation to any of the items on the agenda, you would need to speak at this point. In some instances, depending on the nature of your interest, you may need to remove yourself from a meeting during consideration of that item of business. Please contact the Monitoring Officer if you have any questions or require any advice. 

Minutes will be taken of meetings and some meetings will be recorded and streamed live.