Conduct During Meetings

• Members of the Committee
• Exclusion
• Sub-Judice
• Members of the Public

Members of the Committee

• The Chair will chair the meetings of a committee, and members of the committee will speak only when asked to do so by the chair. Members will speak from their seats, and do not need to stand. Members should speak through the Chair at all times.
• The committee may wish to consider who might normally be permitted to sit at the head of the committee table in addition to Chairman of the committee. This includes:
  • Chief Executive
  • Monitoring Officer
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • the Committee Services Officer to the Committee
  • any person authorised to do so by the Chair
• The Committee Services Officer sits on the Chair’s right.
• Members who are not members of that committee, but who wish to participate should notify the Chair in advance of their intention to attend and/or wish to speak at a meeting. If Councillors do not give advance notice they may still participate with the Chair’s agreement, but there is no guarantee that they will be allowed to participate.
  
  The Chair may limit the time available for a particular proceeding, or for a particular member as part of a proceeding. The Chair may also order a member to stop speaking if they have exceeded their allotted time, or in the view of the Chair, are departing from the subject or repeating themselves.
• A speaker may not be interrupted except by the Chair. However, a speaker may agree to allow another member to intervene. Members wishing to intervene may do so by raising their hand. Any member intervening still requires to be invited to speak by the Chair.
• Members will address each other by name. The Chair and Depute chair may be referred to as such.
• Members of the committee must conduct themselves in a courteous, orderly and respectful manner , and must respect the authority of the Convener/Chair/Depute chair at all times. In particular, they must not behave in a manner which would constitute a criminal offence or contempt of court.
• In accordance with the expected standards of behaviour in the Chamber, during committee meetings members should not read newspapers, magazines, recording equipment or telephones, smoke, eat, or drink (except for water provided).
• The rules of behaviour apply equally to members of the committee and those participating in the Committee’s work such as Council Officers.

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Exclusion

• The Chair has the authority to order any member whose behaviour does not meet the standards specified to leave the room and to exclude him or her until the end of the meeting.
  
  The Chair does not have the authority to exclude a member from subsequent meetings of the committee. However, a member can be excluded for a further period, if this is the decision of Council.

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Sub-Judice

• A member may not in committee make reference to any matter in which legal proceedings are active (as specified in section 2 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981), unless special permission has been received from the Monitoring Officer. If a member raises an issue which, in the view of the Chair is, or may be, sub-judice, they may order the member to stop. The member must abide by the Chair’s ruling at that meeting. However, the member might wish to consider approaching the Monitoring Officer for a view on the matter prior to the next committee meeting if he or she has not already done so.

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Members of the Public

• Members of the public who are admitted to the committee must comply with the conditions of behaviour. Information for the public on the required standards of behaviour within the committee room can be obtained from the Committee Services Staff.
• The chair may order that any member of the public who does not observe these conditions may be removed from the committee room, and may be excluded for a period determined by the Chair.
• If any disturbance in the committee threatens the orderly conduct of business, the chair may close the meeting, or adjourn or suspend it for a specified period to allow order to be restored. If, in these circumstances, the chair leaves the chair after ordering that the disturbance stop, this will have the effect of suspending the meeting. The chair may reconvene the meeting as soon as they consider it appropriate to do so.

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