Co-option Procedure
Adopted January 2023
Reviewed without change May 2024
Introduction
Parish Councils are permitted to exercise the power to co-opt a person on to the Council to fill a casual vacancy when the requirements to hold an election have not been met
Procedures
To ensure a fair and transparent process is undertaken the following procedure will be followed by Scothern Parish Council:
1. On receipt of written confirmation from the Electoral Services Office that the casual vacancy can be filled by means of co-option, the Clerk will advertise the vacancy on Scothern Parish Council website, noticeboard and social media.
2. Applicants for co-option will be asked to:
a) confirm their eligibility for the position of Councillor within the statutory rules b) submit information about themselves by way of completing the application form below.
3. Copies of the applicant’s application form will be circulated to all Councillors by the Clerk prior to the meeting of the Council when the co-option will be considered. All such documents will be treated by the Clerk and all Councillors as Strictly Private and Confidential.
4. If the number of applicants exceeds three, the applications will be heard at a specially convened meeting to allow candidates and members sufficient time to receive the applications and to facilitate time for questions and answers.
5. If there are three or less applicants, they will be invited to the next Parish Council meeting and invited to speak for up to three minutes, giving information about themselves and why they would like to be a Councillor. Councillors will be allowed to ask questions of the applicants.
6. For any meeting where co-option is to be considered, once the presentations and questions have taken place, the press, public and applicants may be asked to leave the Council meeting, in order for applications to be considered.
7. Following consideration, the Chairman shall seek proposers and seconders for each nomination (whether or not they have spoken) and the vote will follow.
8. There are no set rules regarding how a Council co-opts a new Councillor. Councillors may choose who they like but the applicant must be qualified to have been a candidate.
9. Only Councillors present at the Council meeting may propose, second or vote upon a person to fill the vacancy.
10. If there is more than one vacancy, a Councillor may nominate one person per seat. Each Councillor will have only one vote per seat i.e. two vacancies will enable two votes.
11. Voting will be in accordance with statutory requirements, in that a successful applicant must have received an absolute majority vote of those present and voting. If there are more than two applicants for one vacancy, steps must be taken to strike off the candidate with the least number of votes and the remainder must then be put to the vote again; this process must, if necessary, be repeated until an absolute majority is obtained. Therefore, if there are more candidates than vacancies, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be excluded. Voting will continue with the lowest polling applicant begin excluded until the number of applicants matches the number of vacancies. Voting will be by ballot and if any member so requires the Clerk shall record the names of members who voted, so as to show whether they voted for, against or abstained. In the case of an equality of votes, the Chairman of the meeting has a second or casting vote.
12. The first candidate to receive an absolute majority of those present and voting will be duly elected.
13. After the vote has been concluded the Chairman declares the successful candidate(s) and all candidates are notified of the result within 24 hours.
14. Before the successful candidate(s) can participate in Council business they must sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office in the presence of the Clerk.
15. The Clerk will advise West Lindsey District Council of the names of anyone co-opted to the Council.
16. The Clerk is responsible for providing each new Councillor with an induction pack. It will be taken that all new Councillors have read and understood the Code of Conduct and Standing Orders adopted by Council.
17. All new Councillors must within 28 days of appointment to office, register their interest with the Monitoring Officer. Forms will be supplied by the Clerk and new Councillors must return the completed forms back to the Clerk within this timescale.
18. The Council is not obliged to provide feedback on the application process to unsuccessful candidates.
The following application forms can be downloaded as Microsoft Word or PDF documents from THIS LOCATION
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Application for Co-option |
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Full name and title |
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About you |
In the box below tell us a little about your background, skills and experience that might be useful if you join the parish council. |
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Reasons for applying |
Please explain here your reasons why you want to be a member of the Town/ Parish Council |
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Signature |
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Date |
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Return this form to the Scothern Parish Clerk once you have completed it.
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Eligibility to be a Parish Councillor |
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Full name and Title |
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Home address |
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Home telephone |
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Mobile telephone |
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Email address |
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It is a condition of being a Parish Councillor that your name will be made public via notice boards and the parish council website. You may need to disclose your phone and email address to deal with parish council matters. Do you agree to this? Yes / No |
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Are you a British or Commonwealth Citizen and not require leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom or have indefinite leave to remain? Yes / No |
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Are you aged over 18? Yes / No |
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To qualify you must be able to answer ‘Yes’ to at least one of the questions below |
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a) Are you on the electoral register for Scothern Parish Council? Yes / No b) Have you lived either in parish of Scothern or within 3 miles of its boundary, for at least a year? Yes / No c) Have you been the owner or tenant of land in Scothern parish for at least a year? Yes / No d) Have you had your only or main place of work in parish of Scothern for at least a year? Yes / No |
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You must be able to answer ‘No’ to all the questions below to be eligible to serve as a councillor. |
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the Channel Islands or Isle of Man and has been sentenced (whether suspended or not) to imprisonment for three months or more without the option of a fine?Yes/No
local authority?Yes/No
paid office?Yes /No
or Sexual Risk Orders?Yes /No |
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Signature |
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Date |
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Return this form to the Scothern Parish Clerk once you have completed it.