ORDINANCE 7
MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL AND ITS STANDING COMMITTEES
Scheduling of meetings
1. There shall be five ordinary meetings of the Council in each academic year and as many ordinary meetings of the standing committees as specified in their terms of reference. The schedule of meetings shall normally be published by the Secretary to Council on or before 30 June before the academic year in which the meetings are to be held.
2. The relevant chair or the Secretary to Council may call an extraordinary meeting of the Council or a standing committee at any time. The Secretary to Council shall also call an extraordinary meeting upon the written request of no fewer than one third of the members, to be held within a minimum of seven and a maximum of 21 days from the date of receipt by the Secretary to Council of the required number of requests. The business of an extraordinary meeting shall be only that business for which the meeting was called.
Agendas and papers
3. The Secretary to Council or nominee shall normally despatch the agenda and papers for meetings to all members at least seven days before the meeting. Any member may propose an item for the agenda by submitting it to the Secretary to Council in advance of this. Only in exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of the chair of the meeting shall items be added to the agenda or papers circulated fewer than three days before the meeting. All members should possess the same core information on the matters under consideration.
4. The agenda for a meeting may indicate one or more ‘starred’ items that are expected to be noted or approved without discussion in the meeting. Before the start of a meeting, any member may request that time is given by the chair to permit discussion of any ‘starred’ items on the agenda.
5. The agenda and papers for any meeting or items relating to reserved business shall be recorded separately and circulated only to those members entitled to receive them. Whether an item is designated as reserved business shall be determined by the relevant chair, as applicable.
Attendance at meetings
6. Members are expected to attend all meetings and remain present for their full duration. A member who is unable to attend a meeting shall submit apologies in advance of the meeting to the Secretary to Council. In accordance with Article 11 of the Charter, a member who does not attend for twelve consecutive calendar months shall be deemed to have resigned unless the Council decides otherwise on the recommendation of the Governance Committee.
7. The Secretary to Council shall be entitled to attend all meetings of the Council and its standing committees, as well as ad hoc panels and groups convened by them, unless this would result in a conflict of interest that cannot otherwise be resolved. Others may attend at the invitation of the chair.
Conduct of meetings
8. The quorum for meetings of the Council shall be as set out in Article 12 of the Charter. The quorum for meetings of the standing committees shall be one third of the members with a minimum of three members. If a meeting does not meet quorum, the chair shall determine whether the meeting shall proceed or be postponed and rearranged. In the event that a meeting proceeds without meeting quorum, all decisions made will be considered preliminary until they have been confirmed by the required number of members to effect the decisions as formal.
9. Any proposal or recommendation which appears on the agenda or in a paper submitted to the meeting shall be put to the meeting for resolution. Any amendments to the proposal or recommendation shall be considered in turn and, if carried, the amended version of the overall proposal or recommendation shall be considered for approval.
10. It shall be within the discretion of the chair to set a limit to the length of time to be spent on debate, provided that the mover of any proposal, motion, amendment or item of business has the right of final reply before it is put.
11. Voting at meetings shall be normally by show of hands of those present. The decision shall be taken in accordance with the majority votes, provided that a majority of members are in favour. The chair shall only cast their vote if equal numbers of votes are cast by the other members.
12. Any member may validly participate in a meeting through the medium of conference telephone, video or internet conferencing or such other electronic or virtual means in which they may communicate simultaneously with all other participants. A member so participating shall be deemed to be present in person at the meeting and shall accordingly be counted in the quorum and be entitled to vote.
13. Where a meeting is attended by members through a combination of physical presence and electronic or virtual means, such a meeting shall be deemed to take place where the largest group of members participating is assembled or, if entirely by electronic or virtual means, where the chair is located.
Decision making outside of meetings
14. An ordinary resolution that is signed in writing by more than half of the members shall be as valid and effective as if it had been passed at a meeting duly convened and held. Such resolution may consist of several documents in the same form each signed by one or more of the members, including signatures evidenced by email or other electronic means, a copy of which may be recorded by the Secretary to Council. Any member who is prohibited by these Ordinances from voting on the matter shall not be included when determining whether the resolution has been duly passed. The Secretary to Council shall be responsible for ensuring that such resolutions are reported to the next meeting and for retaining an appropriate record.
15. Both the Chair and Vice-Chair of Council in respect of the business of the Council, and the chair of a standing committee in respect of the business of the relevant standing committee of which they are the chair, shall have delegated authority to take action between meetings on business that would not have merited discussion at a meeting. Where the matter is one of greater substance and where the urgency of the matter does not prevent this, the other members shall be consulted before taking action. Action taken will be reported at the next meeting.
Acts during vacancies
16. No act or resolution of the Council or any committee, panel or group convened by it or one of its standing committees can become invalid by reason only of any vacancy in the body doing or passing it or by reason of any want of qualification by or invalidity in the election or appointment of any de facto member of the body whether present or absent, or by reason of the accidental omission to give any member notice of the meeting or the non-receipt by any member of that notice.
Minutes
17. The Secretary to Council or nominee shall be responsible for producing the minutes of the meeting and for maintaining the master copies of all minutes, agendas and papers. Minutes shall be unconfirmed until approved at the next meeting, approved by the relevant chair between meetings where evidence of the decision is required prior to the next meeting, or signed in writing in accordance with paragraph 14 of this Ordinance. Any amendments to the unconfirmed minutes agreed at the next meeting shall be incorporated by the Secretary to Council into a final version which becomes the confirmed minutes and the formal record of the discussion and decisions.
18. The minutes of any meeting or items relating to reserved business shall be recorded separately and circulated only to those members entitled to receive them.
Approved by the Council with effect from 1 August 2024.