Knowles on Local Authority Meetings
Written for local authority democratic services officers, solicitors, legal officers and supporting officers, and anyone dealing with committee practice within a local authority environment, the new edition of Knowles on Local Authority Meetings covers the law and practice of local authority meetings and decision-making and discusses the developments within the local government sector.
The book provides an analysis of the framework within which local authority meetings are held, the rights and duties of members, officers and the public at meetings, and the practical conduct of meetings. Featured throughout are relevant case histories and illustrations of model documents and procedures with an extensive list of appendices.
This edition has been extensively amended to discuss the latest changes and developments within the local government sector, including:
- developing law and practice under The Localism Act 2011
- standing orders and the authority’s constitution
- various approaches to members’ codes of conduct
- individual decision making and the importance of the clerk’s role in quality control, the decision maker’s report and recording decisions
- the Cities and Devolution Act 2016.
Contents
Part One: General Principles
Current framework
Standing orders
Admission of press and public
Local authority membership
The role of officers
Part Two: Council Meetings
Preliminaries
Conduct
Council minutes
Part Three: Committee Practice
The committee system
Work before meetings
Work at meetings
Work after meetings
Part Four: Miscellaneous Meetings
Meetings for special purposes
Meetings of other public bodies
"Next to Charles Arnold Baker, this essential guide to procedure at formal meetings of every kind should be on the bookshelf of every Clerk". Richard Walden, SLCC Communications Officer and former Town Clerk to Dunstable Town Council, Bedfordshire