Questions from Councillors and residents at CEC Cabinet meetings - Clarification on notice requirements

Following the Cheshire East Council Cabinet Meeting on Thursday 2 July, we received some questions about the notice needed to submit public and member questions to Cabinet meetings.

The Council's Constitution says that questions must be submitted with three clear working days' notice. The CEC Monitoring (Legal) Officer has confirmed that this means the day the question is submitted and the day of the meeting are not counted.

So, for example, if a Cabinet meeting takes place on a Thursday, questions need to be submitted by Friday of the previous week. A question submitted on the Monday before the meeting would not meet the three clear working days' notice requirement.

At the Cabinet meeting the Leader of the Council explained that questions submitted after the deadline could not be taken during the meeting. This was to ensure that the rules were applied fairly and consistently for everyone.

Member questions are an important part of Cabinet meetings, and the Leader has confirmed that the questions which could not be heard on 2 July will still receive written responses, which will be published.

The Council is still relatively new to the Cabinet system, and members are continuing to get used to the new arrangements. A review of how the system is working will take place in October, giving members the opportunity to raise any concerns, clarify any areas of uncertainty, and suggest improvements where needed.