PROCEDURE FOR THE CO-OPTION OF A PARISH COUNCILLOR
The Parish Council has the power under the Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) Rules 1986 SI 1986/2215 r 8 (3) co-opt a parish councillor in the event that an election is not called for.
In the event that the Parish Council resolves to proceed to co-option the below procedure will be followed:
1. The vacancy for co-option will be advertised in the Parish Magazine and interested parties invited to contact the Parish Clerk to express their interest in standing for the PC.
2. The interested parties will be invited to attend a meeting of the Parish Council.
3. Each candidate will be asked, at the appropriate point on the agenda, to address the Parish Council in respect of their application. Candidates will be invited to include information on the following:
a. Why they wish to become a parish councillor
b. What their particular skills and interests are
c. How much time they could allocate to support the parish council
d. What they consider to be the main issues facing the village
4. The candidates may present this information in any format they wish and each candidate will be allocated five minutes.
5. Following the presentations the Chairman will invite the parish councillors and candidates to raise any questions they may have.
6. When this process is concluded the Chairman will put the matter to the vote.
7. The vote will be taken by ballot, with each member indicating their preferred candidate.
8. The Parish Clerk will collect, count and report the vote.
9. The co-opted member will need to obtain an absolute majority of those present and voting – for example, in a parish council with nine members the successful candidate would need to obtain five votes.
10. In the event that a candidate does not achieve this in the first round of voting the candidate with the lowest number of votes drops off and the vote is taken again.
11. Once a successful candidate has been co-opted they will be asked to sign a Declaration of Acceptance of Office form and will be able to join the parish council.
12. Following acceptance of office an appointment will be made with the Parish Clerk for an induction, which will include training and support will be given in completion of the necessary Register of Interests form.