By Correspondent
Find out about the different types of council meetings held by your local authority.
The majority are open to members of the public, although some may be held in private when appropriate.
Full Council
Full Council consists of all members of a particular council and meets about 10-12 times a year.
These meetings are open to the public.
One can attend and listen to the interactions and debates but they cannot participate.
What
The full council is usually responsible for most major decisions but in practice, most of the work is delegated to smaller thematic groups of councillors.
However, these thematic Committees have to come back to the Full Council for ratification of their decisions.
How It Works
Councillors get to discuss and vote on certain decisions and matters.
The majority position sails through as the binding decision of all Councillors.
It is the resolution of the Full Council that become binding.
Some business can only be determined by Full Council, such as setting council taxes or other local resolutions.
It also deals with objections made by councillors to executive team decisions.
Here, it will debate the issue and either confirm the decision, or refer it back with a recommendation.
A Full Council also receives petitions and questions from members of the public (prior to the meeting).
Who Can Attend
A Full Council meeting is usually open to the public and members of the media to attend.
A member of the public can also access Full Council minutes in which are detailed all the deliberations.
While these are free for some local authorities like Harare City Council others like Norton Town Council require a small payment.
Residents can oversee the effectiveness of their particular Councillor by attending these meetings.
The Full Council minutes can also show how or if a Councillor is participating.
When
Full Council meetings are usually held once per month and are chaired by the Mayor (for cities) or Town Chairperson (for boards and towns).
However Special Council meetings can be convened when a special matter requiring the full quorum of Councilloras is needed.
This can include the need to vote for a new Mayor as happened in Harare after the multiple recalls of former Mayors.