Following the resignation of all five remaining parish councillors on Monday 5th of September, 2022, Burlescombe Parish Council is no longer quorate.
The Clerk to the parish council will now notify Mid Devon District Council that the parish council cannot operate due to being inquorate.
Electoral Services (or where appropriate or necessary Member Services) will, in turn, verify the number of seats on the parish council and that it is inquorate. They will also identify the number of appointments required for the parish council to be quorate.
All district ward members in the ward in which the council is located will be offered the opportunity to be appointed to the council as a temporary appointment until such time as the vacancies are filled by election. Where there are insufficient district ward members available for appointment to achieve a quorum, the relevant county ward member may also be approached. However, it may be necessary to approach other parties, if there are still difficulties in making sufficient appointments.
All appointments will end once sufficient members are elected to the town or parish council or co-opted.
In the event that insufficient ward and county members are available and willing to be appointed in order to make up a quorum, the Returning Officer is authorised to appoint any other person, following consultation with the district Ward Member(s) for the parish affected and the Clerk.
In the event that no appointments can be made, the parish council will remain inquorate until elections are held resulting in sufficient numbers of parish councillors to be quorate.
In accordance with Section 91(3) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Returning Officer will send two copies of the order to the Secretary of State. This will also be copied to the Clerk. The order will stipulate the names of the appointed persons and the date their appointment will expire.