Langham Parish Council

Co-option Policy – June 2019

PUBLIC NOTICE OF VACANCIES

s.87(2) OF THE Local Government Act 1972 ( the 1972 Act) requires a local council to give public notice of casual vacancies, to ensure transparency and attract more candidates. 

The public notice given by the council invites application for candidates who satisfy (1) the eligibility for being a councillor and (ii) the competencies listed in the person specification.

An example of a public notice is shown at Annex A

PROCEDURE FOR CO-OPTION AS A MEMBER OF LANGHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Casual Vacancy:       

A casual vacancy occurs following the resignation or death of a serving member. Rutland County Council is notified of the vacancy and the Corporate Services Department post a formal Notice of Vacancy. The notice will be displayed for fourteen days during which ten members of the parish can demand an election takes place. If called the by-election is then organised by Rutland County Council. If an election is not called then the Parish Council will fill the seat by co-option.

Vacancies after an election:

If there are not enough candidates to fill the remaining vacancies the Representation of the People Act 1985, section 21 allows the elected members, provided there is a quorum (i.e. one third of the whole numbers of members with a minimum of three) to co-opt members to fill the remaining vacancies.

Insufficient Candidates:         

If, following an ordinary election there are insufficient persons nominated to fill all the available seats, the Parish has 60 days from the date of the election to co-opt persons to fill those vacancies without the necessity of advertising for a potential by-election. If, following the election, there are insufficient councillors elected to form a quorum, the parish must advise the Rutland County Council who can either appoint persons to be parish councillors or order another election.(see section 39(4) Representation of the People Act 1983 and section 21(2) RPA 1985)

Vacancies without an election:

If an election is not requested the parish clerk will be notified that the parish council must co-opt a member to fill the vacancy as soon as practicable. If the number of casual vacancies leaves the parish council without a quorum, the county council will order an election to be held and in the meantime may by order appoint people to fill all or any of the vacancies until other Councillors are elected and take up office.

Co-option Process:

Any casual vacancy by co-option will be advertised on notice boards within the parish and via the parish website and social media for a minimum of four weeks.  This will include a deadline for receipt of applications (see Public Notice of Vacancies Annex A.)

The Parish Council can advertise/promote/approach individuals as they see fit, but any candidate who qualifies must be considered for co-option, i.e. be put to the vote, in the context of any agreed deadline.

    Eligibility:

1. The Parish Council is able to consider any person to fill a vacancy provided that:

• He/she is an elector for the parish; or
• has resided in the parish for the past twelve months or rented/tenanted land in the parish; or
• had his/her principal place of work in the parish; or
• has lived within three miles (straight line) of the parish.

2. There are certain disqualifications for election, of which the main are (see 5. 80 of the Local Government Act 1972):

• holding a paid office of the Parish Council.
• bankruptcy;
• having been sentenced to a term of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) of not less than three months, without the option of a fine during the five years preceding the election; and
• being disqualified under any enactment relating to corrupt or illegal practices.

Applications:

 Candidates will be required to:

• Submit an email or letter to the Parish Clerk explaining why they are interested in joining the Parish Council and what skills and experience they would bring.
• Meet with the Parish Clerk and Chairman of the Parish Council to discuss any questions they have about the procedure for co-option, eligibility to serve or the role and responsibilities of a Parish Councillor.

Co-option Process:

• The Parish Council will consider the candidates for co-option to fill any vacancy at a Parish Council meeting.
• Shortly before the start of this meeting the Parish Clerk will report the names of the candidates to the Council at the meeting and distribute copies of any applications made by the candidates.
• If they wish, each candidate may make a short statement to the Council.
• The process will be carried out in the public session and there will be no private discussions between members prior to a vote being taken. However, where the Council is discussing the merits of candidates and inevitably their personal attributes, this could be prejudicial and the Council should resolve to exclude the members of the press and public.
• Declarations of interest must be made by Parish Councillors as each candidate is considered, (eg: family ties, friendships, business relationships etc). This does not prevent Councillors from voting.

Voting:

• This must take place in a public meeting.

• Only Councillors present at the meeting may vote; Each councillor must vote. No councillor may abstain.
• If a member is not at the meeting the legislation does not provide for a proxy or postal vote.
• Even if there are fewer candidates than vacancies, each candidate must receive an absolute majority vote of those members present at the meeting; no majority, no co-option. There is no “co-opted uncontested” provision within the law.
• If there are more candidates than vacancies, the candidate with the least number of votes should be taken off the list of candidates, and if there are still more candidates than vacancies, the vote is taken again. This procedure should be repeated until the number of candidates equals the number of vacancies and each candidate has a majority vote.
• The Chairman may only use his casting vote if two successive voting rounds are stalemated.

Declaration of Acceptance of Office:

Those co-opted must sign a declaration of acceptance of office before they join any meeting of the council as a member (If the successful candidate is present at the meeting where the co-option is agreed they will sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and be able to participate in the meeting.)

Term of Office: 

A person elected or co-opted to fill a casual vacancy holds office until the person in whose place they are elected or appointed would regularly have retired.

Notification of Co-option:

The Clerk will notify Corporate Services at Rutland County District Council of the new member appointment and request the new member completes a Registration of Interests form within 28 days of being co-opted.

Parish Council Responsibilities

• Street lighting – On 1st April 2017, responsibility for all street light maintenance in Rutland passed to Rutland County Council, when all streetlights were replaced with energy efficient lighting. The Parish Council makes an annual contribution towards the energy costs for the street lighting. Any problems with streetlights can be reported to Rutland County Council here.
• Burial Ground – the Parish Council provides and administers the burial ground at Munday’s Close. Plots are available for burial and cremated remains. The area is maintained by our grass-cutting contractor. Please contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information about the burial ground.
• Allotments – allotments are provided on the Munday’s Close site and administered by the Langham Gardener’s Association. Please contact the Langham Gardener’s Association for more information on allotment plots.
• Planning – The Parish Council receives, from Rutland County Council, all planning applications for Langham. The Parish Council cannot approve or refuse any application but can comment and provide advice and opinion in line with the Neighbourhood Plan.
• Maintaining a tidy village – the Parish Council provides dog waste bins around the village and pays for these to be emptied weekly.
• Grass cutting – the Parish Council is responsible for the cutting of all grass on Parish land, including the play area and burial ground.
• Play area – the play area and playing field at Munday’s Close are provided and maintained by the Parish Council. A formal annual safety check (RoSPA) is completed and the area is inspected weekly by a member of the Parish Council.

Where do we get our funding from?

Annually, the Parish Council requests a sum of money – ‘the precept’, from Rutland County Council. This is collected from Council Tax. The money is used to fund the services listed above and to continue to improve and maintain Langham for the community.

Langham Parish Council in Rutland

This year's Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Tuesday 27th May 2025 in the Village Hall. More details will be published shortly.

The next meeting of Langham Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 27th May 2025 immediately after The Annual Parish Meeting at 7pm in the Village Hall (Ruddle Room). All are welcome to attend. Members of the public may speak on any item on the agenda before the meeting begins.

Welcome to the Parish Council website for Langham, in the smallest county in England, Rutland, and not to be confused with at least 6 other Langham villages around the country.

Langham Parish is just north of Oakham, Rutland’s county town, and covers a predominantly farming area of approximately 1182 hectares (2920 acres) extending 3.4 miles west to east and 2.3 miles north to south. It has a population of just over 1400 who generally live in the village of Langham or in a smaller residential community on the eastern edge of the Parish built on what used to be the kennels of the famous Cottesmore Hunt.

The entire village of Langham and part of its surrounding area is a Conservation Area. It has 40 listed buildings including St Peter and St Paul’s Church of England (Grade 1) and the Old Hall (Grade I 2). There are numerous other structures throughout Langham that are listed and also some important ancient hedgerows, bridleways and trees throughout the parish. The earliest reference to Langham was in 1398 when it had its own Manorial Court but the building of the parish church began earlier in the 13th century. The parish was part of the Gainsborough Estate until 1926. Thanks to Langham Village History Group much of the history of Langham is well known and published (www.langhaminRutland.org.uk).

In early 2018 the Langham Neighbour Plan was ‘made’ and in autumn of he same year the Langham Neighbourhood Plan won a Leicestershire and Rutland Rural Community Council Award that recognised the breadth and depth of our parish and whole community’s commitment and involvement in developing and owning an ambitious, well evidenced Plan. It provides the tools (Policies, Proposals and Community Actions) to safeguard the best in our village and parish and to guide developments and projects to enhance the quality of our environment and lives in Langham.

The Parish Church (www.oakhamteam.uk) can be found at the centre of Langham village together with a busy Village Hall (www.langhamvillagehall.org) hosting many activities and a post office once a week. The village also has a Baptist Chapel, a Primary School (www.langhamprimary.co.uk) and popular pub (www.thewheatsheaf-langham.co.uk). Just to the north east of the village you will find Rutland Polo Club (www.rutlandpoloclub.co.uk) and on an area of parish land, allotments, a children’s play area, a playing field, the parish burial ground and a Pocket Wildlife Park where woodland and picnic areas are maintained by volunteers.

Langham Parish Council was formed under the Local Government Act of 1894 and Minute Books indicate that some matters have been exercising the minds of councillors from the very beginning to the present day - overgrown shrubbery; the state of the brook (which runs through the middle of the village); council expenditure! In 1899 our Parish Council expenditure was £6 2s 0d, In 1990 it was £4,000 and, more recently, £33,000 in 2024, which is the equivalent of £195 in 1899. To explain this one hundred and seventy fold increase, in 1899, we had no street lights, no piped water or sewage, roads were unpaved, grass cutting was carried out by residents, the church provide burial plots and allotments were privately owned. The current responsibilities of the 9 elected councillors representing parishioners on Langham Parish Council are shown under the Your Councillors tab.