Article 3 - Citizens and the Council
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3.01 Citizens’ Rights
Citizens have the following rights.
Rights to information and to participate are explained in more
detail in the Access to Information Procedure Rules and
Appendix I thereto as contained in Part 4 of this Constitution:
(a) Voting and
Petitions. Citizens on the Electoral
Register for the area have the right to vote and sign a petition to
request a referendum for an elected Mayor form of
Constitution.
(b) Information. Citizens have the right
to:
(i) Attend meetings of the Council,
the Executive and all other Committees except where exempt or
confidential information is likely to be disclosed, and the meeting
is therefore held in private;
(ii) Find out from the Forward Plan
what key decisions will be taken by the Executive and
when;
(iii) See reports and background
papers, and any records of decisions made by the Council and the
Executive except where exempt or confidential information is likely
to be disclosed; an
(iv) Inspect the Council’s accounts
and make their views known to the external auditor.
(c) Participation.
Citizens have the right to participate in Meetings of the Council,
the Executive and all other Committees as described in the
Council’s Scheme of Public Participation as set out in Appendix II
to the Access to Information Procedure Rules as contained in
Part 4 of this
Constitution, and may contribute to investigations by the Overview
and Scrutiny Committee and to policy development via a Policy
Advisory Group at the invitation of that Committee and Group.
(d) Complaints. Citizens have the right
to complain to:
(i) The Council itself under its Complaints
Procedure;
(ii) The Local Government Ombudsman after
using the Council’s Complaints Procedure; and
(iii) The Borough Council’s Monitoring
Officer about the conduct of a Borough, Parish or Town Councillor
in the Ashford Borough Area provided the complaint relates to
conduct which is, or may be, a breach of the Councillor Code of
Conduct.
3.02 Citizens’ Responsibilities
Citizens must not be violent, abusive or threatening to
Councillors or Officers and must not wilfully harm things owned by
the Council, Councillors or Officers.
Next
- Article 4 - The Full Council
This webpage was updated on
9/30/2010