Speak at a council or committee meeting

Have your say at Council and Committee Meetings

For details of when our meetings are held, please see our Calendar of Meetings (opens new window)
A maximum of thirty minutes is allocated at meetings for asking questions or making statements, registration for which is on a first come, first served basis.

Asking a question

(Full Council, Executive, and Committee Meetings - except Planning Committee)

At ordinary meetings of the full Council, and meetings of the Executive and other Committees (except Planning Committee - see the separate procedure below for public speaking at Planning Committee) you may register to ask one question, which may relate to any matter relevant to the powers or duties of the Council, or which affects the Borough. The councillor who will respond to your question will depend upon the nature of your question.  If your question is to be asked at a full Council or Executive meeting, it is most likely that the Leader of the Council, or the relevant lead councillor on the Executive, will respond. A question asked at another committee will normally be the responsibility of the chair of that committee to respond.

Before the meeting

You must give written notice of your wish to ask a question, including the draft of the question itself, by email to committeeservices@guildford.gov.uk, by no later than 5pm on the fourth working day before the day of the meeting. For example, if the meeting is held on a Thursday, you must register by 5pm on the Friday of the previous week.

Your question, together with a written response from the councillor to whom the question was put, will be set out in full on the Supplementary Agenda Pack, which will be circulated to all councillors and published to the Council's website by 5pm on the working day before the day of the meeting. The question and written response will also be included in the minutes of the meeting.

The written question and response will normally be taken as read, and the Mayor or the chair of the meeting will ask you if have a supplementary question arising from the question or the written answer you have been given. You will be allocated up to five minutes to deliver your supplementary question. The councillor responding may give a verbal response to any supplementary question, or a written response which would be sent to you within three clear working days following the day of the meeting.

Making a statement

As an alternative to asking a question, you may register to address an ordinary meeting of the full Council, or any meeting of the Executive or committee (except the Planning Committee - see separate public speaking procedure below) for up to five minutes on any matter relating to the powers or duties of the Council, or which affects the Borough.

Before the meeting

You must give written notice of your wish to address the meeting, including a copy of the statement that you wish to make, by email to committeeservices@guildford.gov.uk, by no later than 5pm on the fourth working day before the meeting. For example, if the meeting is held on a Thursday, you must register by 5pm on the Friday of the previous week.

A copy of your statement will be set out in full on the Supplementary Agenda Pack, which will be circulated to all councillors and published to the Council's website by 5pm on the working day before the day of the meeting.  The statement will also be included in the minutes of the meeting.

At the meeting, a verbal response will normally be given to your statement either by the Mayor, or the chair of the meeting, or the Leader of the Council, or a lead councillor.

Please note that:

• no questions or statements from the public will be allowed at any meeting where the required notice has not been given, and
• no discussion will take place at a meeting in respect of any question or supplementary question, or any statement made by a member of the public

On the day of the meeting

Please ensure that you arrive at least ten minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting so that we may note your attendance and go through the procedures with you.

The Mayor/chair will call each of the speakers in turn to go to the public speaking desk to address the meeting. Once you have asked any supplementary question or made your statement, you will not be permitted to address the meeting again and you need not stay for the remainder of the meeting unless you wish to.

If you are unable to attend the meeting in person, due to unforeseen circumstances, you may, with the consent of the Mayor/chair of the meeting, nominate a spokesperson to attend and speak or ask a supplementary question on your behalf. If this is the case, you should advise Committee Services by no later than 5pm on the day of the meeting.

Refusal of a Question or Statement

We may reject your question or statement if, in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer,

• it does not relate to a matter for which the Council has responsibility or does not affect the Borough or its residents, communities or businesses,
• it is defamatory, frivolous, vexatious, or offensive,
• it refers to legal proceedings taken or anticipated by or against the Council,
• it is substantially the same as a question or statement which has been put to a meeting within the previous 6 months,
• it requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information, or
• it would more appropriately be responded to by the Council under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, or the Data Protection Act 1998 as amended

Speaking at a Planning Committee meeting on a planning application

Planning applications will be referred to the Planning Committee for determination if:

• any householder (or similar) planning application has attracted 10 or more written representations contrary to the planning officer's recommendation (a written representation is defined as one written representation from an individual or organisation but does not include any subsequent representation(s) from the same individual or organisation in respect of the same planning application)
• any major or minor planning application that has attracted 20 or more written representations contrary to the officer's recommendation

Where this applies, we will notify all those who have written to us to invite them to register to speak at the Planning Committee meeting where the application will be considered.

Up to four people can register to speak at the committee meeting in respect of the application on a first come first served basis:

• up to two people may speak to object to an application
• up to two can speak in support of an application

Additionally, and where applicable, a parish council representative and a neighbourhood planning forum representative may also register to speak.  Each speaker may speak for up to four minutes. Visual aids may not be used by public speakers.

Registering to speak

Registration begins at 12 noon on the day the agenda is published, which is five clear working days prior to the meeting. For example, Planning Committee meetings are normally held on a Wednesday, therefore the agenda is published on the Tuesday the week before. You must write to us or email us by
12 noon on the working day before the day of the meeting. You must send your email or letter to:

Democratic Services Officer for the Planning Committee
Guildford Borough Council
Millmead House
Millmead
GUILDFORD
Surrey  GU2 4BB

Email:  committeeservices@guildford.gov.uk

Your letter or email must contain:

• your name, address and daytime phone number
• the planning application number and name of the development
• whether you want to speak to support or object to the application

What will happen at the meeting?

When the Chair announces the name and number of the application you are interested in a planning officer will give a presentation on it. The Chair will call each of the speakers in turn to go to the public speaking desk to address the Committee for up to four minutes.

When you have finished your speech, you will be asked to return to your seat in the public seating area. When all the speakers have been heard, the Committee will discuss the application. The public cannot take part in the discussion. The Committee will make a decision on the application.

If you have registered to speak and you arrive late or don't turn up to the meeting, the Committee will still make a decision on the application.