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East Southsea Neighbourhood Forum Constitution

NAME

1. The name of the Neighbourhood Forum will be 'East Southsea Neighbourhood Forum'.

OBJECTIVES

1. To benefit East Southsea by promoting a discussion between local residents and the City Council and other appropriate organisations on issues of concern locally, and City-wide, and improvements to the area's environment, appearance and/or amenities.

MEMBERSHIP

1. All residents in the area outlined on the Council Forum map are automatically members of the Forum.
2. The Portsmouth City Councillors, together with the Leader and Deputy Leader of the City Council will be honorary members without voting rights.

MEETINGS

1. The Forum will meet at least twice a year. Meetings will be called by the Chair, by the Committee, or by any 10 members passing a signed request to the Secretary. An agenda, stating the subjects to be discussed at the meeting will be displayed locally and circulated to every household in the neighbourhood at least 7 days before the meeting.
2. If for any reason the agenda fails to be delivered to any household as required above, this will not invalidate the meeting.
3. Meetings will be open to everyone living in the neighbourhood. Any decision will be taken by a show of hands majority vote of members present. No decisions shall be taken if there are fewer than 20 members present.

OFFICERS

1. There will be a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the Forum, elected from amongst the members annually at the first meeting after May 1st. The Chair's responsibility will be to call at least two meetings of the Forum per year, to agree the agenda and to Chair the meetings. The Secretary will receive requests for meetings from the Chair and/or members, arrange for the circulation of the agendas and minutes the meetings.

STREET REPRESENTATIVES

1. The Neighbourhood Forum may appoint 'Street Representatives', who will act as a channel of communication between the Neighbourhood Forum and local members, reporting their views as appropriate.
2. The number of Street Representatives to be appointed and the area to be covered by each shall be determined, and the appointments made, by the Neighbourhood Forum meetings. The meeting shall try to ensure that all streets in the Neighbourhood are represented on the Committee.

THE COMMITTEE

1. The Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Street Representatives and Co-opted Members may be held as agreed by its members, a quorum shall comprise of 25% of the committee including 2 Officers. However, the role of the committee will be primarily to suggest items for discussion and prepare the agenda for meetings of the Forum, and to resolve any administrative issues concerning the running of the Forum
2. The Committee shall not have the authority to represent or make decisions on behalf of the Neighbourhood Forum when so delegated by the Forum on specific issues.
3. The Neighbourhood Forum meeting shall have the power to remove the Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, or any Street Representative from office by a majority vote on a resolution which has been duly proposed and seconded. There shall be elections to replace officers or representatives who have been removed or have resigned. The Forum shall have the power to co-opt members onto the committee.

FUNCTIONS

1. The Functions of the Neighbourhood Forum are:

   • To discuss matters of interest and concern to East Southsea.
   • To discuss these with the City Council and other agencies and organisations and to represent the views of local people to those bodies.
   • To raise issues where action is required to improve the environment, appearance and/or amenity of the area, and to receive progress reports on action taken.
   • To comment on any proposal before the City Council which affects the local neighbourhod
   • To make bids to, and assist the City Council in prioritising schemes in the East Southsea area
   • To provide feedback on City Council services, and to advise the City Council on the development of its corporate priorities and service plans.

CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

1. This constitution can only be changed by a 2/3rds majority vote of the members present at the meetings of the Forum. The agenda for such a meeting must have been circulated at least 7 days before the meeting, and included notice of the proposed change.