Stoke Trister with Bayford Parish Council
Adoption of NALC Standing Orders 2018
Background
Standing orders are a set of written rules of a local council. They are used to provide guidance and help regulate the proceedings of a meeting. Standing orders are also used to confirm and be referred to for the different internal organisational and administrative arrangements. They are not policies but the standing orders may refer to these policies.
Stoke Trister with Bayford Parish Council’s were last updated in 2012. In 2018 NALC issued a revised standard model for local councils to amend/adopt as permitted within the legal framework. They contain a number of areas where the Council can make up it’s own limits. These are referred to as “insertionsâ€.
Insertions Required
Included in the text of the model standing orders are brackets like this ‘(  )’ which require information to be inserted by a council. A model standing order that includes brackets like this ‘[ ]’ and the term ‘OR’ provides alternative options for a council to choose from when determining standing orders.
The table below details the paragraphs where insertions are required and suggested additions:
| Paragraph Number | Issue | Suggested Insertion |
| 1t | Maximum minutes a Councillor may speak on a motion | 10 minutes |
| 2f | Period of time designated for public participation | 10 minutes unless deemed to require longer in which case chairman has the power to allocate more time |
| 2g | Maximum amount of time a member of the public may speak for | 5 minutes |
| 3x | Maximum duration of a meeting | 2 hours |
| 4v | Number of days notice a Councillor gives notice to a clerk of their intended absence from a meeting for substitution purposes | 3 days |
| 6d | Number of days notice for a Councillor to convene an extraordinary meeting | 7 days |
| 6d | Number of Councillors required to convene an extraordinary meeting | 2 Councillors |
| 7a | Number of Councillors who give written notice to reverse a motion | 2 Councillors |
| 9b | Number of days written notice required to move a motion at a meeting | 7 days |
| 9d | Number of days written notice required to resubmit a motion with revised wording before a meeting | 5 days |
| 15bii | Number of written days notice required for a Councillor to remove a motion from the agenda | 4 days |
| 23b | Do we have a common seal or not ? | Choice of paragraphs in the text |
Conclusion
The insertions in the table above need to be discussed and ratified/amended as appropriate to enable the Parish Council to adopt a revised set of standing orders complete with the insertions decided by the Council.