Quote:
Originally Posted by accyman
so is there no where to turn to when the leader dosnt follow rules set out and if rules are not followed can that not invalidate the vote or the proceedings ?
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The Leader has put pressure on council officials to change the meeting to the date and time he wanted. The latest date that the AGM of the Council had to be held (as per the constitution of HBC, which state that the AGM must be held no later than 21 days after the election) was Thursday 27 May.
Once the meeting was called off for Tuesday 18 May, the elected members had to be given 5 clear days notice, in writing of the date of the re arranged meeting. This meant that the meeting could only be held on either Wednesday 26 May or Thursday 27 May. Meetings of the Full Council are normally held at 7pm,
Miles Parkinson, who is the Labour Group Leader informed council officials that Thursday 27 May was the day when all Labour Councillors were available. But the meeting was called for 1.30pm on Wednesday 26 May, which meant that some members would find it very difficult to attend because of work commitments etc.
If officers have acted outside the constitution the facts can be reported to the Monitoring Officer, who has a duty under Section 5A of the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act to investigate contraventions of the council's rules and codes of practice. However, no matter how blatant the contravention is, there is no guarantee that the Monitoring Officer will find that there has been any wrongdoing.