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Full Council meetings: public questions, statements and petitions

At every Full Council meeting (except at the Annual Meeting and at Extraordinary Meetings) there is an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions about Council business and submit a petition under the agenda item Public Questions and Petitions.

Duration

A period of up to one hour is allocated for all questions, statements and petitions. 

The Lord Mayor (as Chair of the meeting) has discretion as to how questions, petitions and statements are presented at the meeting. They also have permission as to whether you are invited to present your question/petition/statement at the meeting, or if they are read out at the meeting. 

A response to the question or petition will be given by the Leader of the Council or the appropriate Committee Chair. 

If you are not able to attend the meeting, your question/petition may be referred to the appropriate Member. An answer/response will be provided to you.

Public participations order

The order for receiving public participations within the allocated time is:

  1. Petitions
  2. Questions relating to the agenda of the specific Full Council meeting
  3. Supplementary questions to written questions relating to the remit of the Full Council
  4. Statements

There may be situations where some questions and/or statements are not able to be presented in the meeting. This may be because time does not allow or where a Member undertakes to provide a written response. Where this occurs, a written response will be sent to participants within 10 clear working days of the meeting. They will be published on our website.

Question and statements arrangements

The following arrangements apply to all types of question and statements:

  • your written question, supplementary question, verbal question or statement must not exceed 200 words
  • a question may have multiple linked parts, which will be considered as one question (as long as it is within the 200-word limit)
  • any pre-amble or introductory remarks must be included in the 200-word limit

Participations

You can have a maximum of two participations in any meeting, such as a written question and a statement, or a verbal question and a statement

All questions and statements must be sent by email to publicquestions@sheffield.gov.uk by the submission deadlines. 

If you do not meet these deadlines, your question or statement will be deferred to the next meeting of the Full Council, unless you withdraw your submission. 

Details of how we will use and keep your information can be found on our privacy notice.

You have the option to:

  • attend the meeting in person
  • join remotely through hybrid link
  • request that a nominated person or Council officer read your submission on your behalf or request a written response

Written questions will only receive a written response and will not be read out in the meeting.

The submission deadlines for meetings of the Full Council can be found on our Dates of Meetings and Deadlines webpage. 

Dates of Meetings and Deadlines

Public participation methods

The arrangements for the different methods of public participation at Full Council meetings are available on this page. 

Participations must be submitted within a number of clear working days before the meeting. A clear working day does not count bank holidays.

Written questions relating to the remit of the Full Council

You must submit your question in writing by 9 am and six clear working days before the meeting. Such as for meetings held on a Wednesday, a written question will need to be received by 9 am. on the Monday of the previous week.

A response to your written question will be sent to you and published one clear day before the relevant meeting. Such as for meetings held on a Wednesday, the response will be published on the Monday of that week*. There is no requirement for you to attend the meeting, however you can if you wish to do so. 

Supplementary questions

If you have submitted a remit written question, you can submit a supplementary question that arises directly from your original written question and/or the response.

You must submit your supplementary question in writing by 9 am on the working day before the relevant meeting. Such as for meetings held on a Wednesday, a written question will need to be received by 9 am on the Tuesday of that week.

A verbal response may be provided in the meeting, however, if this is not possible due to lead times, you will receive a response within 10 clear working days.

Questions relevant to items on a published agenda

You must submit your question in writing by 9 am and two clear working days before the scheduled meeting. For example: for meetings held on a Wednesday, a written question will need to be received by 9 am on the Friday of the previous week.

A verbal response may be provided in the meeting, however, if this is not possible due to lead times, you will receive a response within 10 clear working days.

Statements

Statements relevant to the remit of the Full Council must be received in writing by 9 am and 6 clear working days before the scheduled meeting.

Statements relevant to items on the published agenda for the specific Full Council meeting must be received in writing by 9 am, two clear working days before the scheduled meeting.

All statements will be published online the working day before the relevant meeting and circulated to all Members of the Council.  

Statements can be read out at the relevant meeting and there is no commitment to responding to a statement.

Petitions

You must submit your petition in writing by 9 am at least 2 working days in advance of the date of the meeting, to committee@sheffield.gov.uk or through the e-petition facility on our Current ePetitions web page.

Petitions, questions or statements will not be permitted if they relate to:

  • judicial or quasi-judicial matters
  • individual planning/licence/grant applications or appeals
  • identifiable officers or Members of the Council
  • confidential matters of the type referred to in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972
  • matters which are repetitious, including questions which are substantially the same as questions asked at other meetings of the Council or Committees within the previous six months
  • matters of an irrelevant, defamatory, frivolous or offensive nature or a general misuse of the opportunity

Exclusions

Petitions, questions or statements will not be permitted if they relate to:

  • judicial or quasi-judicial matters
  • individual planning/licence/grant applications or appeals
  • identifiable officers or Members of the Council
  • confidential matters of the type referred to in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972
  • matters which are repetitious, including questions which are substantially the same as questions asked at other meetings of the Council or Committees within the previous six months
  • matters of an irrelevant, defamatory, frivolous or offensive nature or a general misuse of the opportunity

Contact Democratic Services

Town Hall
Pinstone Street
Sheffield
S1 2HH

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