Committees and Working Groups

A Parish Council can appoint a number of bodies to assist the operation of the council

These fall into two categories:

Committees and their Sub-Committees

• Sub-Committee can only exist below a Committee (it cannot be a Sub-committee of full Council).
• The Councillors on Committees and Sub-Committees are allowed to make decisions, within the constraints of their delegated powers - assigned by the full council. A Committee cannot assign itself powers - the Council determines its Terms of Reference
• Only Councillors are allowed to vote
• Committees/Sub-Committees are required to publish the agenda,minutes and supporting documents for their meetings

Working/Advisory Groups

• Normally appointed as 'Task to Finish' groups - with a defined purpose in their terms of reference, and are dissolved once the task has been carried out, or a defined lifetime of the group has been reached.
• Groups typically contain both Councillors and residents, to facilitate input from the wider community - all have the same voting rights.
• Working/Advisory Groups are not allowed to make decisions on behalf of the Council - they report to a designated Committee or to Council with their findings and recommendations, and it is for the Committee/Council to take the decisions.
• Groups should, wherever possible, publish documentation from their meetings, but typically this is less formal than for Committees.