Speaking at Council Meetings

Members of the public have the right to speak or ask questions at some Town Council meetings.

The meetings you can speak at include:

• Full Council Meetings
• Planning and Licensing Committee Meetings
• Finance and General Purposes Committee Meetings (please note that this is only at the invitation of the Committee for the purpose of awarding grants).

Please see our FAQs below for further details of procedures on speaking at a full council meeting of Falmouth Town Council and for information on how to register to speak.

Alternatively, please click on the button below to download a copy of our Speaking at Council Meetings PDF which gives details of speaking at all the Council meetings listed above.

FAQs- Speaking at Full Council Meetings

1. Can I ask questions at a full council meeting?

Anyone can apply to ask a question on a matter being considered at an ordinary meeting of the full council.

There are separate procedures for Speaking at a Planning and Licensing Committee Meeting and Speaking at a Finance and General Purposes Committee Meetings.

2. How many questions can I ask?

At any one meeting no member of the public may ask/submit more than one question, and no more than one additional question* (see ‘What is an Additional Question?’ below).

3. Can I just turn up to a full council meeting and ask my question?

Notice of questions is required. Questions must be delivered in writing, or via email, to the Town Clerk no later than 48 hours before the meeting.

Each question must be directed to Member(s) (Councillor(s)) and include the names and address of the person asking the question.

Questions will be asked in the order they were received. Except that the Town Mayor may group together similar questions.

The Town Clerk may reject a question if it is:

• not about a matter for which the Council has a responsibility or which affects the Town
• defamatory, frivolous or offensive
• essentially the same question that has been asked at a Council meeting in the past six months
• requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information

4. What is the process for asking my question at a full council meeting?

The Town Mayor will invite the questioner to put the question to the Member(s) named in the notice, during the meeting.

If a questioner who has submitted a written question is unable to be present, they may ask the Town Mayor or Town Clerk to put the question on their behalf.

If the questioner is unable to ask the question in person, a written reply will be given to the questioner within a reasonable period, following the meeting.

5. *What is an additional question?

Anyone who asks a question in person may also ask one additional question without notice.

The additional question must arise directly out of the original question or the reply.

The Town Mayor may reject an additional question if it is:

• not a matter about which the Town Council has a responsibility or which does not affect the Town
• defamatory, frivolous or offensive
• essentially the same question that has been asked at a Council meeting in the past six months
• requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information

6. What if I am not able to be present at the meeting to hear the response to my question?

If the questioner is unable to ask the question in person, a written reply will be given to the questioner within a reasonable period following the meeting.

Furthermore, all full Council Meetings are recorded live and remain available to view at anytime, following the meetings, on our Facebook page.

7. What if the Member/Councillor to whom a question was addressed is not present at the meeting or there isn’t enough time for my question to be asked?

Any question which cannot be dealt with during public question time, either because of lack of time or because of the non-attendance of the Member (Councillor) to whom it was to be put, will be dealt with by a written answer within a reasonable time period following the meeting.

8. What if my question is referred to Committee?

Unless the Town Mayor decides otherwise, no discussion will take place on any question asked by a member of the public. However, any Member (Councillor) may request that a matter raised by a question be referred to the appropriate Committee or Sub-Committee. Once seconded (supported by another Councillor), such a motion will be vetoed on without further discussion.