Local Government Act 1972

Part IIE+W Parish Councils

7(1)A parish council shall in every year hold an annual meeting.E+W

(2)In a year which is a year of ordinary elections of parish councillors, the annual meeting of a parish council shall be held on, or within fourteen days after, the day on which the councillors elected at that election take office, and in any other year the annual meeting shall be held on such day in May as the parish council may determine.

(3)The annual meeting of a parish council shall be held at such hour as the council may fix or, if no hour is so fixed, 6 o’clock in the evening.

8(1)A parish council shall in every year hold, in addition to the annual meeting, such other meetings (not less than three) as they may determine.E+W

(2)Those other meetings shall be held at such hour and on such days as the council may determine.

9(1)An extraordinary meeting of a parish council may be called at any time by the chairman of the council.E+W

(2)If the chairman refuses to call an extraordinary meeting of the council after a requisition for that purpose, signed by two members of the council, has been presented to him, or if, without so refusing, the chairman does not call an extraordinary meeting within seven days after such a requisition has been presented to him, any two members of the council, on that refusal or on the expiration of those seven days, as the case may be, may forthwith convene an extraordinary meeting of the council.

10(1)Meetings of a parish council shall be held at such place, either within or without their area, as they may direct, but shall not be held in [F1premises which at the time of such a meeting may, by virtue of a premises licence or temporary event notice under the Licensing Act 2003, be used for the supply of alcohol (within the meaning of section 14 of that Act)] unless no other suitable room is available either free of charge or at a reasonable cost.E+W

(2)Three clear days at least before a meeting of a parish council—

(a)notice of the time and place of the intended meeting shall be fixed in some conspicuous place in the parish and, where the meeting is called by members of the council, the notice shall be signed by those members and shall specify the business proposed to be transacted at the meeting; and

[F2(b)a summons to attend the meeting, specifying the business proposed to be transacted at the meeting and certified by the proper officer of the council, shall be sent to every member of the council by an appropriate method.]

[F3(2A)In sub-paragraph (2)—

(a)“authenticated” means signed or otherwise authenticated in such manner as the proper officer thinks fit; and

(b)the reference to sending the summons to a member by an appropriate method is to—

(i)leaving it at, or sending it by post to, the member’s usual place of residence, or

(ii)where the member has given consent for the summons to be transmitted in electronic form to a particular electronic address (and consent has not been withdrawn), sending it in electronic form to that address.]

(3)Want of service of any such summons as is referred to in sub-paragraph (2)(b) above on any member of the parish council concerned shall not affect the validity of the meeting.

11(1)At a meeting of a parish council the chairman of the council, if present, shall preside.E+W

(2)If the chairman of the council is absent from a meeting of the council, the vice-chairman of the council, if present, shall preside.

(3)If both the chairman and vice-chairman of the council are absent from a meeting of the council, such councillor as the members of the council present shall choose shall preside.

12E+WSubject to paragraph 45 below, no business shall be transacted at a meeting of a parish council unless at least one-third of the whole number of members of the council are present at the meeting; but, notwithstanding anything in that paragraph, in no case shall the quorum be less than three.

13(1)Unless otherwise provided by the council’s standing orders the manner of voting at meetings of a parish council shall be by a show of hands.E+W

(2)On the requisition of any member of the council the voting on any question shall be recorded so as to show whether each member present and voting gave his vote for or against that question.