Standing Orders
Commencement
1. These Standing Orders shall apply and have effect on and after 16 September 2004.Appointment and Removal of Convener and Vice-Convener
2. The Council shall appoint a Convener and a Vice-Convener at the Statutory Meeting required to be held in terms of Standing Order No. 4 hereof, and they shall hold office, subject to the provisions of Standing Order No. 3, until the next ordinary election of Councillors.3. The Council may at any time remove the Convener or Vice-Convener from office, provided notice of such proposed action has been given in any requisition in terms of Standing Order No. 9 and in the notice calling the meeting and specifying the business to be transacted. Any decision to remove the Convener or Vice-Convener from office shall require the support of at least two-thirds of the Members present and voting.Meetings of the Council
4. The Statutory Meeting of the Council required to be held by virtue of paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 7 to the 1973 Act shall be held within twenty one days after each ordinary Election of Councillors in terms of Section 5 of the 1994 Act.5. Other meetings of the Council will be held on such dates and at such times as the Council may determine.6. The proper officer for the calling of meetings of the Council shall be the Head of Corporate Administration or other officer duly authorised by him for this purpose.7. Meetings shall be called by notice signed by the proper officer, specifying the business to be transacted. Where the meeting is called on a requisition by members of the Council in terms of Standing Order No. 9, the notice shall contain the names of those members and shall specify the business to be transacted.8. Notice of the time and place of a meeting of the Council, and copies of any written reports to be considered, shall be given by the proper officer not later than seven days before the meeting by being left at or sent by post or communicated by e-mail to the usual place of residence of every member of the Council. If, however, it appears to the Convener that an item of business demands special urgency, a meeting of the Council may be called by the proper officer at shorter notice, but in any event by intimation to the members as soon as possible prior to the date for the meeting.9. A special meeting of the Council may be called at any time by the proper officer, or by him on being required to do so by the Convener, or by him on his receiving a requisition in writing for that purpose specifying the business proposed to be transacted at the meeting. Such requisition must be signed by at least one-fourth of the whole number of members of the Council, and the meeting shall be held within fourteen days of receipt of the requisition by the proper officer.10. Public notice of the time and place of a meeting shall be given by posting it at the principal office of the Council at least three clear days before the meeting or, if the meeting is convened at shorter notice, then at the time it is convened.11. An item of business may not be considered at a meeting of the Council unless either:-(a) a copy of the agenda and any written report on the item (or copy of the item subject to exclusion as provided for in terms of Section 50B(2) of the 1973 Act) is open to inspection by members of the public at the principal office of the Council for at least three clear days before the meeting, or, where a meeting is convened at shorter notice, from the time the meeting is convened, or(b) by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified in the Minutes, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.12. At a meeting of the Council the Convener or, in his absence, the Vice-Convener, will preside. If the Convener and Vice-Convener are both absent from a meeting of the Council, another member chosen by the members of the Council present will preside.13. The Council may by resolution suspend for the remainder of a meeting any member who in its opinion is disregarding the authority of the Chairman or being guilty of obstructive or offensive conduct at the meeting. Where such resolution is carried, the proper officer will act on such instructions as he may receive from the Chairman in pursuance of the resolution.14. Proceedings of the Council shall be minuted and the Minutes shall, after approval, be signed at the next meeting of the Council by the Chairman thereat as provided for in terms of Standing Order No. 16(h). Any question as to the accuracy of a Minute shall be determined by those members present at the meeting to which the Minute is submitted who were also present at the meeting to which the Minute refers.Minute Books
15. (a) Minute Books will be kept by the Head of Corporate Administration and will contain the names of those present at Meetings of the Council along with a record of the proceedings and decisions of the Council.(b) The Head of Corporate Administration will be the custodian of all Minute Books and will not permit them to leave his custody without the authority of the Council.(c) The members of the Council will have the right to inspect and take extracts from any of the Minute Books of the Council and the Head of Corporate Administration will arrange, when required, to give access at reasonable times to those Books for that purpose.(d) Minutes of the Council and committees and sub-committees will be printed under the direction of the Head of Corporate Administration and copies sent to each member.Duties of Chairman
16. The duties of the Chairman of the meeting will include -(a) deciding all matters of protocol, decorum, order, competency and relevancy;(b) determining all matters of procedure for which no provision is made within these Standing Orders, in reaching which determination he may be advised by the proper officer;(c) deciding priority between two or more members wishing to speak;(d) ensuring that a fair opportunity is given to all members to express their views on any item of business, in accordance with the terms of these Standing Orders;(e) preserving order within the meeting;(f) ordering the exclusion of any member of the public, in order to prevent or suppress disorderly conduct or other misbehaviour which impedes or is in his opinion impeding the business of the meeting;(g) in the event of disorder arising, adjourning the meeting to a time and date that he will fix then or later, and in leaving the Chair in such circumstances this will, without further procedure, have the effect of a formal adjournment of the meeting;(h) signing the Minutes of the previous meeting, adjusted in accordance with any amendment approved by the Council;(i) being the sole judge of all questions relating to Standing Orders, his decisions being final, but in reaching which decisions he may be advised by the proper officer; and(j) checking every attempt to violate Standing Orders and ensuring that they are strictly obeyed and enforced, it being the duty of the proper officer or his authorised representative to call the attention of the Chairman to any breach of Standing Orders.
Quorum
17. Subject to Standing Order No. 18, no business shall be transacted at a meeting of the Council unless at least one-fourth of the whole number of members of the Council are present.18. Where there are at the same time vacancies in the case of more than one-third of the members of the Council, then the quorum of the Council shall be determined as follows:-Until the number of members in office is increased to not less than two-thirds of the whole number of members of the Council, the quorum of the Council shall be determined by reference to the actual number of members of the Council, instead of by reference to the whole number of members of the Council. The quorum, however, shall never be less than one-eighth of the whole number of members of the Council or three members, whichever is the greater.19. Subject to the provisions of the 1973 Act, no item of business shall be transacted at a meeting of the Council if, in consequence of the provisions of Section 38 of that Act (disability of members for voting on account of interest in contracts, etc.), fewer than a quorum of the Council are entitled to vote on that item.20. If within ten minutes after the time appointed for a meeting of the Council a quorum of members is not present, the Chairman shall adjourn the meeting to a time which he may then or afterwards fix and, in the event of the appointed Chairman being among those absent, the proper officer shall minute that, owing to the lack of the necessary quorum, no business was transacted.21. If at any time during any meeting of the Council the attention of the Chairman is called to the number of members present, the Chairman will (unless it is apparent to that person that a quorum is present) direct the roll to be called and, if it is found that there is not a quorum of members present, the meeting shall thereupon terminate.22. For the avoidance of doubt, except where the Council's Scheme of Administration otherwise determines or the terms under which a committee or sub-committee is appointed otherwise stipulate, no business shall be transacted at a meeting of a committee or of a sub-committee unless at least one-fourth of the whole number of members or two members (whichever is the greater number) of the committee or of the sub-committee (as the case may be) are present.
Order of Business
23. The business at every meeting of the Council will be dealt with in the order specified in the notice calling the meeting, except that any item of business may, at the discretion of the Chairman, be taken out of its order and provided that the Council may adjourn a meeting of the Council to any other day, hour and place.Motions24. Every notice of motion for a future meeting shall be in writing, shall be signed by the member of the Council giving the notice and shall be delivered to the proper officer. The motion shall be given in full in the notice calling the meeting. A motion of which notice has not been received by 5pm on the fourteenth day before any meeting of the Council shall not be included in the notice of business for such meeting and shall not be moved at such meeting unless it relates to a matter otherwise falling within the business of the meeting.25. If a motion, notice of which is specified in the notice calling the meeting, is not moved either by the member who has given the notice or by some other member on his behalf, it shall, unless postponed by leave of the Council, be considered as dropped and shall not be moved without fresh notice having first been given in accordance with these Standing Orders.26. Any motion or amendment to rescind or amend any decision which has been passed within the preceding six months, and any motion or amendment to the same effect as any motion or amendment which has been negatived within the preceding six months, shall not be in order unless notice thereof has been duly given and has been specified in the notice calling the meeting. The notice of motion or amendment shall bear the signature of the member who proposes the motion and also signatures of at least nine other members. When any such motion or amendment has been disposed of by the Council, it shall not be competent for any member to propose a similar motion or amendment within a further period of six months. In the event of there being any doubt as to the motion or amendment being a similar one, the question shall be decided by the Chairman.27. If any motion of which notice has been given is in the opinion of the Chairman irrelevant, incompetent or otherwise out of order, the Chairman shall so rule and that ruling shall not be subject to challenge, and the motion shall not be admitted to consideration.28. Orders numbers 24, 25 and 26 shall not apply to motions which are moved by members in pursuance of a Minute or report of a committee, nor shall they apply where the Chairman decides, in terms of Section 50B(4)(b) of the 1973 Act, that the matter is one of urgency.29. Any motion purporting to rescind or to alter any duly authorised decision relating to the following matters shall be out of order; viz:(a) action to which the Council is already committed in implement of a decision already taken;(b) the appointment of Officials;
(c) a matter in which the Council acted in an administrative or quasi-judicial capacity in relation to determining a planning application, or an application for a licence, or in relation to the status of a licenceholder or similar matters, or in terms of which prescribed steps were taken in a statutory procedure;
(d) the acceptance of tenders or the authorisation of payment of accounts.
Debate
30. Every motion or amendment shall require to be moved and seconded, and, if required by the Chairman, shall be in writing and shall be handed to the proper officer and read to the meeting by him before it is further discussed or put to the meeting. No member shall move or second more than one motion or amendment in relation to an item of business. In the event, however, that a motion or amendment moved or seconded by a member has been withdrawn, he shall then be able to move or second another motion or amendment.31. A motion or amendment which is not seconded or is withdrawn will fall and will not be discussed or recorded in the Minutes, except that, in the event of him having moved the direct negative, the mover of an amendment will be entitled to have his dissent recorded to the decision taken on the item of business.32. Once moved and seconded, a motion or amendment will not be withdrawn without the consent of the mover and seconder. The Chairman has power to rule out of order in terms of these Standing Orders any motion or amendment, including any which is, in his opinion, substantially the same as one previously moved, whether or not that has carried or failed to carry.33. A motion to which no amendment, whether by direct negative or otherwise, is moved will be declared carried and will not be the subject of debate except that the Chairman may, at his sole discretion, decide to allow the mover and the seconder of the motion to speak in explanation, if the subject matter is considered by the Chairman to be of special interest to the meeting. No other speeches will be allowed.34. Except when presenting a Minute or report of a committee, no member shall speak on any item for longer than five minutes, unless by permission of the Chairman.35. A member shall not address the Council more than once on any motion or amendment, but the mover of an original motion may reply and in his reply shall confine himself strictly to answering matters raised by previous speakers, with the following exception. A member may speak to a Point of Order or in explanation of some material part of a speech made by him which he believes to have been misunderstood or in reply to a question addressed to him through the Chair.36. At the close of any speech, any member who has not spoken on the question before the meeting may move "That the question be now put", and, if this is seconded, unless he considers that the motion is an abuse of Standing Orders, the Chairman shall, without further debate and without speeches on the motion, take a vote on the closure of debate. If the motion is carried, the mover of the original motion shall have the right to reply to any points made in the debate preceding the motion for closure and the question under discussion shall then be put to the meeting.37. Any member may raise a Point of Order at any time during a Meeting. Any other member who is addressing the Chair at the time will immediately stop speaking until the Point of Order is decided. The member raising the Point of Order will advise the chairman of which Standing Order he considers is being infringed and thereafter, without debate, await the Chairman's ruling. No other member may speak to the Point of Order unless with the permission of the Chairman. The Chairman's ruling on the Point of Order will be final, whereupon the member who had been addressing the Chair will be entitled to resume his speech, giving effect, if necessary, to the Chairman's ruling.Questions on Delegated Matters
38. A member shall have the right to ask a question at a Council meeting on any matter delegated to a committee or sub-committee in terms of the Council's Scheme of Administration and contained in the Minutes presented to the Council, subject to the following procedure:-(a) the details of the question on the delegated matter shall require to be given to the Head of Corporate Administration in writing no later than 10 a.m. on the second last working day prior to the meeting of the Council;(b) the question should be addressed to the Convener or, where appropriate, to the Chairman of the relevant committee, and the Convener may ask an appropriate member to provide a reply;(c) any question which, in the opinion of the Convener, is not a genuine request for information and/or which is not directly related to the section of the Minute dealing with the delegated matter in question shall, at his sole discretion, be disallowed and shall not be the subject of any response;(d) the question shall be put, and the answer given, without any discussion;(e) the member submitting the question shall be allowed to ask no more than one supplementary question arising directly out of the reply; and(f) a written answer to the question will be given to the member after the meeting by the relevant Head of Department.Questions to the Leader / Portfolio Holders
39. A member shall have the right at a Council meeting to address a question to the Leader or to a Portfolio Holder on any matter of current concern or relevance, subject to the following procedure:-(a) the details of the question shall require to be given to the Head of Corporate Administration in writing no later than 10 a.m. on the second last working day prior to the meeting of the Council;(b) the question should be addressed to the Leader or the Portfolio Holder, as the case may be, through the Convener, and the Convener may ask the appropriate member to provide a reply;(c) any question which, in the opinion of the Convener, is not a genuine request for information and/or which is not directly related to a relevant issue shall, at his sole discretion, be disallowed and shall not be the subject of any response;(d) the question shall be put, and the answer given, without any discussion; and(e) the member submitting the question shall be allowed to ask no more than one supplementary question arising directly out of the reply.Voting
40. Subject to Standing Order No. 57 (Suspension of Standing Orders) and any statutory provisions concerning a minimum number of votes required to decide a matter, every question shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting at a meeting of the Council. In the case of an equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote, except where the matter which is the subject of the vote relates to the appointment of a member or other person to any particular office, committee or post, in which case the terms of Standing Order No. 43 shall apply.41. Subject to Standing Order No. 43, voting shall be by a show of hands, unless the Council decide that the voting shall be by either (a) roll call, in which case the name of each member casting for the motion or amendment or amendments or abstaining will be taken down in writing and recorded in the Minutes, or (b) by secret ballot, when voting will be carried out by that method. Any proposal that voting be by roll call must be moved, seconded and approved by the Council before the Chairman indicates that the question before the meeting is to be put to the vote.42. Apart from voting in relation to Standing Order No. 43, when a motion and two or more amendments to it are before the Meeting and any one of the proposals in the opinion of the Chairman implies negation, the vote shall be taken on the proposal involving negation as soon as the discussion is completed and before the vote, if any, on the remaining proposals is taken. The proposal involving negation shall be put to the meeting in the form of 'proceed' or 'not proceed'. If 'not proceed' is carried by a majority of votes, the remaining proposals shall drop but if 'proceed' is carried, a vote shall be taken between the remaining proposals as hereinafter provided. When a motion or two or more amendments, none of which implies negation, are before the Meeting, the chairman shall proceed in the following manner. He shall put the last moved amendment against the preceding one and he shall then put the amendment receiving the greater number of votes against the next preceding one, until all are dealt with, when he shall put the only remaining amendment against the original motion.43. (a) Where there are two or more candidates for appointment to an office, a committee membership/appointment or a post, voting shall be by secret ballot. If on the first ballot any candidate obtains the support of an absolute majority of those voting, he shall be held to be duly elected/appointed. In the event of no candidate obtaining the support of such majority, the name of the candidate having the fewest votes shall be struck out and a new vote taken between the others, and so on until one candidate obtains the votes of an absolute majority of those voting. At any stage of voting, should two or more candidates rank as having the smaller or smallest number of votes but with an equal number of votes each to the other, the matter will be dealt with as follows. A vote or votes shall be taken between such candidates having the smaller or smallest but equal number of votes and the candidate then having the smaller or smallest number of votes shall be struck out in order to determine the name or names of the candidate or candidates who should go forward in successive voting. In the event of there still being an equality of votes, the decision will be by lot, except where the matter relates to a staff appointment where, if a determination cannot be arrived at due to an equality of voting, the matter will be the subject of re-advertisement and re-consideration.(b) Where the number of vacancies for membership of a particular committee or appointments exceeds one and where the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies, then the "first past the post" method of voting shall apply through secret ballot, subject to the following provisions. Each member shall be allowed to cast up to a maximum of the same number of votes as there are vacancies. The number of candidates amounting to the same number as there are vacancies and receiving the highest numbers of votes cast shall be held to be duly elected. In the event of an equality of votes between two or more candidates which affects such election, the decision will be by lot.Finance
44. The financial administration of the Council involving inter alia Estimates, Financial Planning, Budgetary Control, Accounting Procedures, Banking Arrangements, Insurances, Investments, Borrowing, Trust Funds and their management, Payment of Accounts, Salaries and Wages and Security will be handled in accordance with the Financial Regulations approved by the Council.Contracts
45. With respect to proposed contracts, the chief officer responsible for arranging tenders shall ensure, in consultation with the monitoring officer and the Director of Corporate Resources, that, where applicable, the provisions of all relevant legislation, and any Orders, Regulations, Directions or Directives made thereunder, shall be applied with respect to the securing of competition for such tenders and, without prejudice to such requirements, the following minimum provisions shall apply in relation to proposed contracts for the supply of goods or materials, for the execution of works or for the provision of services.46. It shall be the policy of the Council to accept the tender which is considered by it to be the most advantageous, which will normally be the lowest satisfactory tender after taking into account the relative merits of specifications, sample, quality, delivery and other aspects of performance.47. With respect to proposed contracts for the execution of works, for the provision of services, or for the supply of goods or materials, the following provisions shall apply in relation to securing competition for such contracts where appropriate and to regulating the manner in which tenders are invited:-(a) In relation to the supply of goods and materials, no contract shall be made in respect of goods or materials of which the probable cost exceeds £20,000 unless either tenders have been invited by public advertisement or not less than three competitive tenders have been invited from suitable suppliers or contractors.(b) In respect of the execution of works or the provision of services, no contract shall be made in respect of works or services of which the probable cost exceeds £50,000 unless either tenders have been invited by public advertisement or not less than three competitive tenders have been invited from suitable contractors or providers of the service.48. In the event of there being any special circumstances pertaining to the letting of any contract, it shall be open to the Council to decide to exempt such contract from the provisions of Standing Order No. 47 and to direct adoption of such other procedure for the letting of the contract as seems appropriate.49. Notwithstanding the terms of any Standing Order relating to the letting of contracts, when carrying out functions in terms of legislation applicable to Trading Organisations, the chief officer responsible for such operations may, provided that it falls within the prevailing legal requirements, invite, accept and/or negotiate offers and terms from proposed suppliers or sub- contractors for the supply of goods or materials, for the provision of services or for the execution of works. In exercising powers under this paragraph, the chief officer concerned must, unless satisfied that an exemption is justified by special circumstances, secure competition for the contract in question and regulate the manner in which tenders are invited by reference to the then current "Procedures on Trading Organisation Sub-Contracting Practice" as approved by the Council.50. The Council shall establish Standing Lists of contractors in respect of various categories of construction, engineering, maintenance and other work, from which Standing Lists there may be compiled Selected Lists of contractors to be invited to tender for any particular contract. The Standing Lists shall be compiled following invitation by public advertisement to contractors to apply for inclusion in one or more List, as appropriate, and shall be reviewed on a regular basis at intervals of not more than three years. Notwithstanding the review period, contractors may, with the approval of the appropriate committee, be added to or deleted from any List at any time.51. (i) Where the estimated value of any one contract does not exceed £100,000, the Department inviting tenders may direct that all tender documents be submitted, in clearly marked sealed envelopes, addressed to the Director of the Department concerned, in which case, as soon as reasonably possible after the specified time on the closing date appointed for the submission of tenders, the tenders received shall be opened by an authorised officer in the presence of a representative of the Corporate Resources Department in accordance with approved procedures.(ii) In all other cases, tenderers shall be instructed to submit tender documents, in clearly marked sealed envelopes, addressed to the Director of Corporate Resources and, as soon as reasonably possible after the specified time on the closing date appointed for the submission of tenders, the tenders received shall be opened by an authorised officer appointed by him in accordance with any approved procedures and, if appropriate, forwarded to the Department inviting the tenders.(iii) Any competitive tender received after the last time specified for the receipt of tenders will not be considered unless (a) no other tender has been opened, (b) every invited tenderer can be notified before the last time specified for the receipt of tenders that an extension of time for receipt of tenders is being granted, and (c) in the opinion of the addressee Director in terms of (i) or (ii) above or of an officer authorised by him:- (a) there are good and sufficient reasons, completely outwith the control of the tenderer, for the late receipt of the tender, and(b) the late receipt of the tender does not give any tenderer an unfair advantage over any other tenderer.The reason or reasons for a decision to allow the late receipt of any tender, and the circumstances, shall be recorded in writing by the addressee Director or by an officer authorised by him.(iv) Any competitive tender received after the official opening of tenders has commenced, or otherwise rejected under any of the provisions in 51(iii) above, shall be promptly returned to the tenderer by the addressee department. Any such tender may be opened only to ascertain the name of the tenderer and no details of the tender shall be disclosed. A record shall be kept of all tenders so returned, with the reasons for so doing.Common Seal
52. The Common Seal of the Council shall be in the custody of the Head of Legal Services and shall be affixed to any document which requires to be sealed in order to give effect to a decision of the Council. All deeds or documents to which the Common Seal of the Council is affixed shall also be signed by an officer properly authorised for that purpose.Authentication of Notices
53. Every notice, order, demand, requisition or other such document or withdrawal thereof by the Council required or authorised by any enactment, statutory order or bye-law shall, except in so far as such enactment or statutory order specifically otherwise provides, be signed by the proper officer.Committees
54. The Council shall appoint such committees as they consider necessary and shall prepare and adopt a Scheme of Administration on the reference and delegation to committees and sub-committees, and a Scheme of Delegation to officers for the purpose of arranging for the discharge of the functions of the Council.Emergency Powers
55. (a) Notwithstanding the terms of Standing Orders and the Scheme of Administration, including in relation to delegated matters, where a situation or condition arises which is, in the opinion of the Chief Executive, whom failing the Director of Corporate Resources, whom failing another Director appointed by the Chief Executive, of such urgency as to make it unwise to delay a decision until the next meeting of the committee concerned with the function in question or the next Ordinary Meeting of the Council, a system of Emergency Powers shall be exercisable. In such circumstances, the appropriate Officer specified shall, following consultation with (a) the Convener, whom failing the Vice-Convener, (b) the Leader of the Council, whom failing the Depute Leader of the Council, and (c) a member of the Executive having the Portfolio for the matter concerned, whom failing any other member of the Executive, have power to take all steps and make any decisions considered necessary to deal with the situation, which steps and decisions shall be binding upon the Council.(b) In the case of Area Committees, the same procedure shall apply but with the substitution of the Chairman of the relevant Area Committee for a member of the Executive having the Portfolio for the matter concerned among the persons requiring to be consulted.Application of Standing Orders of the Council to Committees, etc.
56. These Standing Orders shall be the rules and regulations for the conduct of business of all meetings of the Council. They shall apply to committees and sub-committees of the Council in like manner as they apply to the Council, except in so far as Statute dictates otherwise or the terms of these Orders so require, whether expressly or by implication. Where necessary, they shall however apply with the substitution of references to the committee or sub-committee as the case may be and to the chairman or vice-chairman of the committee or sub-committee as the case may be for references to the Council and Convener or Vice-Convener respectively, subject always to the following exceptions:-(a) Standing Orders Nos. 2, 3 and 4 shall not apply;(b) Standing Order No. 9 - for "one-quarter of the whole number of members of the Council" in its application to Committees shall be "one-half of the whole number of elected members of the committee, being persons elected in terms of Section 5 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and the Representation of the People Act 1983";
(c) Standing Orders Nos. 17 and 18 shall not apply but the determination of the quorum shall be in accordance with the Council's Scheme of Administration or in accordance with the quorum determined for a sub-committee at the time of its appointment; and
(d) In so far as Standing Order No. 24 is concerned, a notice of motion by any member of the Council may, if it otherwise meets the requirements of that Standing Order, be considered by the appropriate committee within whose Terms of Reference the matter falls irrespective of whether or not the member in whose name the notice of motion stands is a member of that committee or sub-committee.
Suspension of Standing Orders
57. (a) So far as not inconsistent with any statutory provisions, any one or more of these Standing Orders may be suspended at any meeting upon a motion made and seconded, but so far only as regards business at such a meeting and provided that two-thirds of the members of the Council present and voting shall so decide.(b) Standing Orders Nos. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 27, 29, 52, 53, 56 and 57 shall not be capable of suspension in terms of this Standing Order.Amendment of Standing Orders
58. These Standing Orders may be amended or revoked at any meeting of the Council provided that previous notice to that effect has been given in accordance with the provisions of these Standing Orders.Code of Conduct and Members' Interests
59. Members of the Council shall observe and comply in all respects with The Councillors' Code of Conduct.Interpretation
60. The Interpretation Act 1978 shall apply to these Standing Orders insofar as not inconsistent herewith. In these Standing Orders, the following words and expressions shall have the meanings hereinafter respectively assigned to them, that is to say -"the 1973 Act" means the Local Government (Scotland ) Act 1973.
"the 1989 Act" means the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
"the 1994 Act" means the Local Government, etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.
"Council" means The Scottish Borders Council constituted under the 1994 Act. "proper officer" means the Head of Corporate Administration or his duly authorised representative.
"committee or sub-committee", in addition to the accepted meaning, includes the Executive, the Education Executive, the Scrutiny Panel and any other similar body established under the Council's Scheme of Administration.
"member" means in relation to the Council, a member of the Council duly elected at an election or by-election or duly elected to fill a Council vacancy and who has made a declaration of acceptance of office in terms of Section 33A of the 1973 Act, and, in relation to any committee or sub-committee, a person appointed as a member of that committee or sub-committee whether or not entitled to vote.
"monitoring officer" means the official designated as such by the Council in terms of section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
"finance officer" means the proper officer referred to in section 95 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 who has responsibility for the financial affairs of the local authority.
"chief officer" means, for the purpose of Standing Orders Nos. 45 and 49 any chief officer of the Council to whom such executive responsibility has been duly given for this purpose.
Newtown St. Boswells, 16 September 2004.
The foregoing are the Standing Orders adopted by the Scottish Borders Council on this date.
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