Glasgow Local Association —Standing Orders

1 General
1.1 All standing orders shall apply to meetings of the Committee of Management, Annual Business Meetings and General Meetings, unless otherwise specified.

2 Meetings: Order of Business
2.1 The Secretary shall intimate in the notices calling meetings all the business known to her/him.
2.2 The order of business at meetings of the Committee of Management shall be:

(i) Sederunt & apologies
(ii) Minutes of the previous stated meetings of the Committee of Management, of meetings of the Executive Committee and of General Meetings of the Local Association held in the interval
(iii) Business arising out of the Minutes not otherwise provided for on the agenda
(iv) Remits from previous meetings of the Committee of Management or from General Meetings
(v) Sub-committee reports
(vi) Reports from special interest Sections
(vii) Headquarters Report
(viii) Motions from branches in educational establishments of which due notice has been given
(ix) Motions from members of the Committee of which due notice has been given
(x) Correspondence
(xi) Any other competent business
In addition the agenda for certain meetings of the Committee of Management shall include the items specified in the Constitution of the Local Association for consideration at these meetings.

2.3 The order of business at the Executive Committee of the Committee of Management shall be:

(i) Sederunt and apologies
(ii) Remits from previous meetings of the Committee of Management
(iii) Membership report
(iv) Financial report
(v) Negotiating report
(vi) Correspondence
(vii) Any other competent business

2.4 The order of business at the Annual Business meeting shall be:

(i) Chairperson's Annual Report
(ii) Declaration of results of election of office-bearers and of Committee of Management
(iii) Annual Account of the Association
(iv) Consideration of level of local subscription rate
(v) Consideration of any proposals for changes to the constitution
(vi) Appointment of auditors for the following year
(vii) Election of reserve delegates to the Annual General Meeting of the Institute

2.5 The order of business at General Meetings shall be competent motions of which due notice has been given.
2.6 The order of business at a meeting may be altered if a motion to alter the order is moved and seconded and approved by a majority at the start of the meeting. The Chairperson may suggest alterations to the order of business as and when he/she considers this necessary; such alterations shall become operative with the consent of the meeting, given without discussion.

3 Business not on the Agenda of the Committee of Management
3.1 Any other competent business shall not be considered unless intimated in writing to the Chairperson before the commencement of the meeting. Any correspondence received subsequent to the issue of the Agenda shall be considered with the consent of the majority of those present, given without discussion.

4 Notices of Motions and Amendments
4.1 Notices of motion for the Committee of Management must be in writing and signed by the proposer and lodged with the Secretary at least seven days before the meeting.
4.2 Reports of sub-committees and of special interest groups which imply action shall be considered as motions.
4.3 Motions from branches shall only be considered if moved and seconded at a meeting of the Committee of Management by members of the Committee.
4.4 Amendments to motions of which notice has been given, amendments to reports of sub-committees and special interest groups which have been previously circulated, and objections to minutes must be submitted in writing and signed by the proposer and handed to the Chairperson at least five minutes before the commencement of the meeting.
4.5 Notices of amendments to the motion or motions on the billet for a General Meeting must be in writing and signed by both proposer and seconder and must be lodged with the Secretary at least five days before the meeting.

5 Discussion of Subjects Previously Disposed of by the Committee of Management
5.1 A subject once disposed of shall not be introduced for rediscussion within the space of six months.

6 Inquorate Meetings
6.1 Where a meeting of the Committee of Management is or becomes inquorate, business not dealt with shall be referred to a subsequent meeting.
6.2 Where the Annual Business Meeting or a General Meeting is or becomes inquorate, business not dealt with shall be referred to a meeting of the Committee of Management in accordance with paragraphs 18 and 24 of the Constitution.

7 Chairing of Meetings
7.1 The Chairperson shall chair all meetings; in her or his absence the Vice-Chairperson shall take the chair; in her or his absence the Ex-Chairperson shall take the chair; in her or his absence the meeting shall elect a member to take the chair.

8 Conduct of Debate
8.1 No motion shall be spoken to except by the proposer until seconded at the meeting. A member who formally seconds a motion or an amendment will retain the right to speak at a later stage of the debate.
8.2 Proposers to motions and amendments shall be allowed ten minutes and other speakers five minutes provided it shall be open to any member to move that a speaker be further heard, this motion if seconded being put to the meeting without discussion. When such an extension to time is allowed it shall be for not more than five minutes.
8.3 A member may speak only once on the same motion or amendment. Proposers of motions and amendments may however reply but they shall strictly confine themselves to answering previous speakers and shall not introduce new matter into discussion. For the reply the proposer shall be allowed five minutes. The proposer of the motions shall terminate the debate and the Chairperson shall then put the question to the meeting.
8.4 A member wishing to raise a point of order or explanation shall state the point without argument. The Chairperson shall not refuse to consider a point of order or explanation but his/her decision thereon shall be final.
8.5 The motion or amendment may be withdrawn by the proposer with the agreement of the seconder and with the consent of the meeting, given without debate.

9 Procedural Amendments
9.1 For the purpose of the order the following propositions shall be dealt with as amendments.
9.2 To amend the motion
Whenever an amendment on an original motion has been proposed and seconded no subsequent amendments shall be moved until the first amendment has been disposed of. If an amendment has been carried it shall take the place of the original motion and shall become the question upon which any further amendment may be moved. If an amendment be rejected the next amendment, if any, may be moved to the original motion under discussion.
After the vote on each succeeding amendment has been taken the surviving proposition shall be put to the vote as the substantive motion and if carried shall then become a resolution of the meeting.
9.3 To adjourn the debate
If this amendment is carried the debate shall proceed to the next business. The adjourned debate shall be resumed at the next meeting or such time at the same meeting as the meeting may determine (or in the case of the Annual Business Meeting, shall be remitted to the Committee of Management with full powers).
9.4 To put the question
A member who has not previously spoken during the debate may competently move without comment at the conclusion of any speech "That the question be now put", the motion, if seconded and accepted by the Chairperson, shall be put forthwith. If carried, the motion or amendment under debate shall be put after the proposers of motion and the amendment have had their opportunity of replying
9.5 To proceed to next business
At any stage during debate, at the conclusion of any speech, it shall be competent for any member who has not spoken on the question to move, being allowed five minutes to do so, "proceed to next business", meaning thereby that no decision can be come to on the question raised. This shall have precedence over any amendment and shall be put at once to the meeting without debate. If carried by a two-thirds majority of those present it shall forthwith become and be declared the finding of the meeting. If it is not seconded, or fails to obtain the requisite majority, the Chairperson
shall again propose the motion and the amendment, if any, and the discussion shall proceed.
9.6 To adjourn the meeting
Any time after the meeting has been in continuous session for two and a half hours it shall be competent for any member to move that the meeting maybe adjourned until such other time as the meeting may determine.

10 Challenge to ruling of Chairperson
10.1 The ruling of the Chairperson on any question of the interpretation of Standing Orders or on points of order or explanation shall be final, unless a particular ruling is immediately challenged by at least 4 members present. In the event of a challenge the Chairperson may make a statement in explanation of his/her ruling. If at least 4 members still challenge the ruling, the procedure shall be as follows:— The Chairperson shall vacate the Chair and the Chair shall be occupied by the Secretary until the challenge has been resolved. A member shall move and another member shall second the motion `that the Chairperson's ruling be not upheld'. The mover and seconder of the motion shall be allowed to make statements, the Chairperson shall be allowed to reply and the Secretary shall then put the motion to the meeting without further discussion. The motion shall only be carried if it is supported by two-thirds of those present. Once the challenge has been disposed of, the Chairperson shall resume the Chair and the meeting shall return to normal business.

11 Voting
11.1 Every question shall in the first instance be decided by a show of hands. The Chairperson may instruct a count. It shall be competent for any member to demand a count; where this demand is supported by at least four members present a count shall be taken. The result of any count shall be announced to the meeting. It shall be competent for any member to propose a roll call vote and where this demand is supported by a quarter of members present (on a show of hands) the Secretary shall read out the sederunt and the members shall state how they vote on the question.
11.2 The Chairperson shall have a deliberative and, in the case of equality of votes, the casting vote. The Chairperson shall however have the right to withhold his/her casting vote.

12 Suspension of Standing Orders
12.1 A motion to suspend Standing Orders must specify the purpose and particular Standing Order or Standing Orders which it is proposed to suspend, and must be seconded. It shall be carried only if supported by
two-thirds of those present. Once the purpose of the motion has been fulfilled the proceedings shall immediately revert to the control of Standing Orders. The Chairperson shall not refuse to accept a motion for the suspension of Standing Orders but he/she may postpone putting it to the meeting until completion of any discussion which is in progress when the motion is tabled.

13 Amendments to Standing Orders
13.1 Amendments to Standing Orders shall be effected by the same means as amendments to the Constitution.