Public Assistance Act, 1939

SECOND SCHEDULE.

Rules in Relation to Membership and meetings of Boards of Public Assistance.

Elections.

1.—(1) The members of a board of public assistance to be elected by a county council shall be elected at the annual meeting of such council held next after every triennial election of members of such council.

(2) The members of a board of public assistance to be elected by the corporation of a county borough shall be elected at the quarterly meeting of the city council for such county borough held next after every triennial election or annual election (as the case may be) of members of such city council.

2.—(1) The members of a board of public assistance to be elected by a county council shall be elected as follows:—

(a) for each county electoral area or part of a county electoral area in the public assistance district, one member of the board shall be elected from among the county councillors elected for that area;

(b) of the other members (in this rule called additional members) any group of councillors comprising the necessary number of councillors may nominate a councillor to be a member of the board and such member shall be elected on such nomination without any voting;

(c) the remainder of the additional members shall be elected successively by a majority of the votes of the councillors who are not members of any such group of councillors as aforesaid;

(d) the number of councillors necessary to form a group for the purposes of this rule shall be the number obtained by dividing the total number of councillors present at the election by the number of additional members to be elected, or where the number so obtained is not a whole number, the whole number next greater than the number so obtained;

(e) no councillor shall be a member of more than one group.

(2) The members of a board of public assistance to be electedby the corporation of a county borough shall be elected in the same manner as additional members are required to be elected by a county council under the foregoing paragraph.

Tenure of Office.

3.—The members of a board of public assistance shall hold office (unless any such member shall sooner die, resign or become disqualified) until the day after their successors have been elected under the foregoing rules.

Disqualification.

4.—(1) A member of a board of public assistance elected by a county council who ceases to be, or is disqualified for being, a member of such county council shall also cease to be, or be disqualified for being, a member of such board of assistance.

(2) A member of a board of public assistance elected by the corporation of a county borough who ceases to be, or is disqualified for being, a member of the city council for such county borough shall also cease to be, or be disqualified for being, a member of such board of assistance.

Resignation and Removal.

5.—A member of a board of public assistance may at any time resign his membership by notice in writing signed by him and delivered, if he has been elected by a county council, to the secretary of the county council or, if he has been elected by the corporation of a county borough, to the town clerk of the borough and to the secretary of the board of public assistance, but such resignation shall not become effective until the meeting of such county council or of the city council for such county borough, as the case may be, held next after the receipt of such notice.

6.—Any member of the council of a county or of the city council for a county borough may with the consent of not less than one-fourth of the members of such council, at any time notify the secretary of such county council or town clerk of such county borough in writing of his intention to propose that the membership of all the members of a board of public assistance who were elected by such county council or by the corporation of such county borough shall be terminated, and the secretary or town clerk, as the case may be, shall thereupon summon a special meeting of such county council or city council for a date not later than one month from the receipt by him of such notification and shall give to every member of such county council or city council, as the case may be, at least fourteen days' notice thereof, and in the event of a resolution (for the passing of which not less than two-thirds of the councillors present shall have voted) being passed at such meeting approving of such proposal, the membership of such members of such board of public assistance shall be thereupon terminated and new members of such board shall be elected forthwith in lieu of those whose membership is terminated.

7.—(1) The membership of any member of a board of public assistance who, for a consecutive period of three months has not attended a meeting of such board, shall thereupon terminate and the county council or city council, as the case may be, at their meeting next after the expiration of such period, shall appoint one of their members to fill the vacancy so created in the membership of the board of public assistance.

(2) Where a meeting of a board of public assistance is abandoned owing to a failure to obtain a quorum, the names of the members who attended at the time and place appointed for the holding of the meeting shall be recorded and such members shall be deemed to have attended a meeting of the board for the purpose of this rule.

Casual Vacancies.

8.—A casual vacancy occurring in the membership of a board of public assistance shall be filled by the council or corporation by whom the member causing the vacancy was elected within one month after the occurrence of such vacancy or within such further time as the Minister may allow, but where the casual vacancy is occasioned by a member elected for the whole or part of an electoral area under paragraph (a) of Rule 2 of these Rules, the casual vacancy shall be filled from among county councillors elected in that electoral area.

Quorum.

9.—The quorum of a board of public assistance shall be one-fourth of the total number of members of the board.

Meetings.

10.—Every board of public assistance shall hold meetings for the transaction of their business at least once in each month and at such other times as may be necessary for properly exercising their powers and performing their duties.

11.—The first meeting of a board of public assistance shall be held after the election of members of such board has been completed on a day to be appointed by the Minister, and shall be an annual meeting.

12.—Every board of public assistance shall at its first meeting appoint a day of the year not earlier than the 17th day of July nor later than the 1st day of August for the holding of subsequent annual meetings and may at any subsequent annual meeting alter the day so appointed.

13.—Every board of public assistance shall hold an annual meeting in each year and such meeting shall be held on the day which is for the time being appointed for the holding of such meetings under these rules, unless such day shall be a Sunday or bank holiday, when such meeting shall be held on the next following day which is neither a Sunday nor a bank holiday.

14.—If the first or any other annual meeting of a board of public assistance is for any reason (including a quorum not being present) not held on the day appointed for the holding of such meeting under these rules, the secretary of the board shall as soon as may be summon a meeting of the board for a convenient hour on the day which appears to him to be the earliest convenient date for the purpose, and the meeting held in pursuance of such summons shall be for all purposes an annual meeting held on the date appointed under these rules.

Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

15.—At every annual meeting of a board of public assistance the board shall elect a chairman, and may elect a vice-chairman, from amongst its members, who shall hold office until the day after the day of the next annual meeting of the board.

Proceedings at Meetings.

16.—The proceedings of a board of public assistance shall not be invalidated by any vacancy or vacancies among their members or by any defect in the election of such board or in the election or qualification of any member thereof.

17.—The chairman of a board of public assistance may at any time call a meeting of such board.

18.—If the chairman of a board of public assistance refuses to call a meeting of such board after a requisition for that purpose, signed by three members of such board has been presented to him, any three members of such board may forthwith, on that refusal, call a meeting; if such chairman (without so refusing) does not, within seven days after such presentation, call a meeting of such board, any three members of such board may, on the expiration of those seven days, call a meeting.

19.—Three clear days at least before any meeting of a board of public assistance, notice of the time and place of the intended meeting, signed by the chairman, or if the meeting is called by members of the board, by those members, shall be fixed on the hall or other place at which the board is accustomed to meet. Where the meeting is called by members of the board, the notice shall specify the business proposed to be transacted thereat.

20.—Three clear days at least before any meeting of a board of public assistance, a summons to attend the meeting, specifying the business proposed to be transacted thereat, and signed by the secretary of the board shall be left or delivered by post at the usual place of abode of every member of the board, but failure so to leave or deliver such summons for or to a member or some of the members of such board shall not affect the validity of a meeting.

21.—No business shall be transacted at a meeting other than that specified in the summons relating thereto, except (in case of the annual meeting) business required to be transacted thereat.

22.—At every meeting of a board of public assistance, the chairman, if present, shall be chairman. If the chairman is absent, then the vice-chairman shall be chairman. If the chairman is absent and either no vice-chairman has been elected or the vice-chairman is absent then such member of the board as the members then present choose shall be chairman of the meeting.

23.—The names of the members present as well as of those voting on each question shall be recorded, so as to show whether each vote given was for or against the question.

24.—All acts of a board of public assistance and all questions coming or arising before the board may be done and decided by the majority of such members of the board as are present and vote at a meeting of the board duly held according to law.

25.—In case of equality of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or easting vote.

26.—A member of a board of public assistance shall not vote or take part in the discussion of any matter before the board in which he has, directly or indirectly, by himself or by his partner any pecuniary interest.

27.—Minutes of the proceedings of every meeting shall be drawn up and fairly entered in a book kept for that purpose and shall be signed by the chairman of such meeting or of the next ensuing meeting.