Key Facts E. Public Participation

It is good practice for councils to set aside a period for public participation (15 or 20 minutes) when the public may wish to make short statements and ask questions.  It may be helpful to hear views from residents, businesses and organisations and promotes community engagement with the council. 

It is good practice to state on the agenda whether the council meeting or committee will have a public participation period.  It may be helpful to gather views at full council meetings and certain committees such as planning committee and finance committee meetings.

Good practice can be found in the NALC Model Standing Order 3 (see Document Templates) or Legal Topic Note 5 (paragraph 42-45)

Public involvement can be limited to those items on the agenda,  although some councils allow members of the public to raise other items of concern or interest. While Councils should limit the duration of a formal PP session, there is no reason why comment cannot be sought from a member of the public during the other parts of the meeting should it be considered appropriate. This should be used sparingly and controlled by the Chair who has the authority to invite and allow persons other than councillors to contribute to the debate as stated in the NALC Model Standing Orders 3 e-k.

A ‘Welcome Statement’ may be read out by the Chair at the start of the meeting which summarises the applicable model standing orders (available in Document Templates).

Minutes should record that a public participation session took place and the issues raised.  Care should be taken not to identify members of the public attending in the minutes or to disclose personal data as any data subject may object now or in the future.  If named they may exercise their right for the identifying information to be removed under the Data Protection Act/GDPR which may cause the council additional expense and work in the future.