Public question time form

1. The person asking the question is required to give their name and suburb prior to asking the question.
2. Questions are to be directed to the Presiding Member who has the discretion to accept or reject a question, and the right to nominate an Elected Member or Officer to answer
3. In order to provide an opportunity for all members of the public wishing to participate in question time, questions are to be as concise as possible with any preamble to questions kept to a minimum. As per Council’s Standing Orders, debating of issues between the Gallery, Elected Members or Officers is not permitted.
4. Where the Presiding Member rules that a member of the public is making a statement during public question time, then no answer is required to be given or recorded in response.
5. Questions which: are considered inappropriate, offensive or otherwise not in good faith, duplicates or variations of earlier question;, relate to the personal affairs or actions of Council members or Officers, confidential matters, legal advice, legal proceedings or other legal processes; or would otherwise impose an unreasonable resource impost on the City; will be refused by the Presiding Member as out of order and will not be recorded in the minutes.
6. When a member of the public submits a question and then does not attend the meeting in person, that question will be treated as an item of correspondence and will be answered in the normal course of business. The question and response will not be recorded in the minutes.
7. The following will be ruled out of order and any question asked will not be recorded in the minutes: Questions from members of the public that do not comply with the Rules of Public Question Time; members of the public not abiding by a ruling from the Presiding Member, behaving in a manner which is disrespectful of the Presiding Member or Council, or refusing to abide by any direction from the Presiding Member.
8. Answers to questions are provided in good faith, however unless reasonable prior written notice of the question has been given, answers should not be relied upon as being conclusive of the matter.
9. Where a question (compliant to these rules) is raised and is unable to be answered at the meeting, the question shall be taken on notice with the response being recorded in the Agenda of the next appropriate Council Meeting. A copy of the response will also be supplied to the questioner.
10. Public Question Time is set for a period of 30 minutes, (except for Special Council Meetings for which a 15-minute period is set), and will terminate earlier should no further questions be forthcoming.
11. To enable all members of the gallery a fair and equitable opportunity to participate in Public Question Time, each person asking a question shall be provided a maximum two-minute time limit in the first instance, in which to ask a maximum of two questions (whether these are submitted in writing or from the floor). A question may include a request for the tabling of documents where these are relevant to an issue before Council.
12. Questions to be asked at the meeting will be registered in order of receipt, and the priority for asking questions shall be firstly questions on which written notice has been given prior to the meeting (that is, prior to 12 noon on the day immediately preceding the meeting) and secondly, questions from the floor. The Presiding Member shall call upon members of the gallery who have not already submitted questions in writing or earlier registered their interest to ask a question, to do so and the priority of asking questions shall be in accordance with that register.
13. Should there be time remaining in the initial period for Public Question Time after all members of the public have posed their initial allotment of two questions, the Presiding Member can then allow members of the public to sequentially (in accordance with the register) ask a further two questions (with a two-minute time limit per question) until the initial period for Public Question Time has expired.
14. Any extension to the initial period for Public Question Time is to be limited to a period that will allow sufficient time for any remaining members of the gallery to ask their initial allotment of two questions.

The City of Belmont is collecting your personal information to administer and process your participation in Public Question Time of the Council Meeting. Your personal information may be livestreamed, recorded, and your details and a summary of your question may be published in meeting documents. Your information may be shared on the City website if you participate in the Public Question Time or where required by law. The Local Government Act 1995 (WA) and the City of Belmont Standing Orders Local Law 2017 authorises the City to collect this information for the purpose of administering public meetings. If you choose not to provide the requested personal information, we may be unable to respond to your question through the Public Question Time process.

For more information, or to request access to your personal information, contact the City on (08) 9477 7222 or email belmont@belmont.wa.gov.au.