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West Surrey Shadow Authority |
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Report title: Proposed Changes to Council Procedure Rules
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Report to: Standards Committee
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Date: 2 November 2026
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Contact Email: Victoria.Kiehl@westsurrey.gov.uk
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Report of Statutory Officer: Susan Sale, Interim Monitoring Officer Contact Email: Susan.Sale@westsurrey.gov.uk |
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Report author(s): Deborah Davies, Deputy Monitoring Officer (Interim) Contact Email. Deborah.davies@westsurrey.gov.uk |
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Wards affected: All Ward councillors informed: Yes |
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Exempt from publication: No |
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Key Decision: No
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If a Key Decision, date registered on Forward Plan: N/A |
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Report cleared for publication by: |
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People Workstream |
N/A |
N/A |
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Equalities Impact Assessment complete |
N/A |
N/A |
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Senior Responsible Officer (or their delegate) |
N/A |
N/A |
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S151 Officer |
Susan Sale on behalf of Vicky Radford |
23 October 2026 |
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Monitoring Officer |
Susan Sale |
23 October 2026 |
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Executive Portfolio Holder consultation |
Cllr Victoria Kiehl |
23 October 2026 |
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Committee Chair consultation |
Cllr Joanne Shaw |
23 October 2026 |
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Head of Paid Service
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Susan Sale on behalf of Andy Brown |
23 October 2026 |
1. Executive Summary
1.1 This report sets out the suggested Council Procedure Rules, as agreed by the Constitution Sub-Committees and Constitution Working Group
2 Recommendations:
2.1 That the Standards Committee resolves:-
(a) to agree the proposed Council Procedure Rules and recommend them to the Shadow Authority for approval and inclusion in the Constitution for West Surrey Council effective from Vesting Day.
(b) To delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer to make minor and administrative amendments.
3 Reason(s) for recommendation:
3.1 Council Procedure Rules ensure that the Council has adequate arrangements in place to deal with the conduct of business at council and committee meetings, in an effective and efficient manner that meets statutory requirements.
3.2 The Council Procedure Rules have a number of parts to them, and inter-relate to other areas of the Constitution. This brings together all parts of the Rules, which have been considered by the Sub-Committee and Working Group.
4 Next steps
4.1 The Council Procedure Rules, if agreed, will form part of the draft Constitution which will come before the Standards Committee at its December meeting, for recommendation to the Shadow Authority.
5 Exemption from publication
5.1 This report is not exempt from publication.
6 Background and Proposal
6.1 The Council Procedure Rules (CPRs) ensure that the following are covered:-
(a) How to get an item considered by the meeting
(b) How to participate effectively in debate
(c) How decisions are made
(d) How to follow the correct procedures
6.2 In considering changes to the Council Procedure Rules, we have had regard to Councils where governance arrangements including Council Procedure Rules were substantially reviewed after external reviews on governance. We have also considered the CPRs of upper tier councils with membership between 85-95 members.
6.3 Changes proposed by members of the Working Group included:-
24.4 to ensure that Motions and questions would need to submitted again to the next meeting of the Council.
18. Members considered that only one member should need to call for a recorded vote for committee meetings
4 There was general support for retaining the ability for a Member to submit up to three questions, rather than limiting each Member to a single question. To ensure fairness each Member's first question would be taken before second questions; second questions would similarly be taken before third questions; and Members submitting multiple questions should indicate their order of priority. This has been reflected in Rule 5. No decision was taken by members on the overall allocation of time for questions as they wanted to consider this with other proposed changes, set out below. This matter is therefore outstanding.
6.4 There was broad support for a principle of enabling Members to highlight matters of local relevance without initiating a wider debate. Members felt that statements should relate to a local or ward matter; each statement should be limited to two minutes; there should be no right of reply; advance notice should be required; consideration should be given to a maximum of five statements per meeting, providing an overall allocation of up to ten minutes.
Members considered that an appropriate and transparent mechanism would be required if the number of requests exceeded the available places. This could be e.g. by random ballot by Democratic Services Officers.
Members agreed to reconsider this area once they had received all parts of the Council Procedure Rules and considered timings as a whole. This matter is therefore outstanding.
6.4 There was support for considering a defined and time-limited arrangement for Leader and group leader contributions, potentially within an overall allocation of approximately ten minutes. However no final decision was made and this matter is therefore outstanding.
6.5 Members requested that 10% of councillors were required to requisition an extraordinary meeting and Rule 2.5.2 has been amended to reflect this.
7 Consultation
7.1 The portfolio holder has been consulted, and her comments were taken into account by the Sub-Committee/Working Group.
8 Key Risks
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8.1 There is a risk that the Council Procedure Rules will need to be revisited, or that they overlap/conflict with other parts of the Constitution. This risk will be managed through the work programme.
9 Options
9.1 To agree the Council Procedure Rules, to enable these to be put into the draft Constitution (recommended).
9.2 Not to agree the Council Procedure Rules and ask the Working Group to reconsider a revised set (not recommended).
10 Issues for consideration
10.1 Financial Implications
10.1.1 There are no financial implications to this report.
10.2 Section 151 Officer Commentary
10.2.1 There are no additional comments
10.3 Legal Implications
10.3.1 The Council Procedure Rules will need to meet the requirements for Standing Orders, as provided for by the Local Government Act 1972, Local Government and Housing Act 1989, and Local Government Act 2000.
10.3.2 The Local Government Act 2000 requires all Councils to have a Constitution which is kept up to date, and to make it available to the public.
10.4 Monitoring Officer Commentary
10.4.1 The Council Procedure Rules are the foundation of ensuring that meetings are properly constituted and that decision making is lawful. They therefore form an important part of the Constitution.
10.5 People/Human Resources Implications
10.5.1 There are no HR implications.
10.6 Equality and Diversity Implications
(a) Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other behaviour prohibited by the Act. In summary, the Act makes discrimination etc. on the grounds of a protected characteristic unlawful
(b) Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
(c) Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not including tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.
10.6.2 The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The Act states that ‘marriage and civil partnership’ is not a relevant protected characteristic for (b) or (c) although it is relevant for (a).
10.6.3 This duty has been considered in the context of this report, and it has been concluded that there are no equality and diversity implications arising directly from this report and the Council Procedure Rules.
10.7 Climate Change and Sustainability Implications
10.7.1 There are no implications arising from this report.
10.8 Stakeholders Implications
10.8.1 The Council Procedure Rules are a matter for members themselves to agree, whilst bearing in mind that they have an impact on the wider community and democratic accountability.
11 Overview & Scrutiny Comments
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11.1 N/A
12 List of Appendices
12.1 Draft Council Procedure Rules
13 List of Background papers
13.1 None