Standing Orders are the written rules of a local Council. They are used to confirm a Council’s internal organisational, administrative and procurement procedures and procedural matters for meetings. They are not the same as the policies of a Council but they may refer to them. A local Council must have standing orders for the procurement of contracts.
Meetings of Full Council, Councillors, the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) and Proper Officer are subject to many statutory requirements. A Council should have standing orders to confirm those statutory requirements. A Council should have standing orders to control the number, place, quorum, notices and other procedures for committee and sub-committee meetings because these are subject to fewer statutory requirements.
Click on the below link to view a copy of the Standing Orders for Woodbridge Town Council, which are modified from the model standing orders produced by the National Association of Local Council (NALC) A signed copy can be viewed at the Shire Hall.
Local councils operate within a wide statutory framework. NALC model standing orders incorporate and reference many statutory requirements to which councils are subject. It is not possible for the model standing orders to contain or reference all the statutory or legal requirements which apply to local councils. For example, it is not practical for model standing orders to document all obligations under data protection legislation. The statutory requirements to which a council is subject apply whether or not they are incorporated in a council’s standing orders.
The model standing orders do not include model financial regulations. Financial regulations are standing orders to regulate and control the financial affairs and accounting procedures of a local council. The financial regulations, as opposed to the standing orders of a council, include most of the requirements relevant to the council’s Responsible Financial Officer.
Click on the link below to view a copy of Financial Regulations for Woodbridge Town Council.