This guide has been prepared to assist parish clerks with the legal process of filling a casual vacancy.
The following diagram provides an overview of the process to follow, should a parish or town councillor vacancy arise:
In the case that a casual vacancy arises within six months of the date of the next ordinary elections, an election will not be held. A notice of the casual vacancy must still be provisioned, and the council may co-opt if it wishes. Any unfilled positions will be filled at the next ordinary elections.
| Reason | Explanation | Effective date |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to complete a declaration of acceptance to office within the proper time | This must be done before or at the first meeting of the parish council, unless the parish council permits otherwise, which cannot be retrospective. | On the closing date for completing the acceptance to office. |
| Resignation | A Councillor may at any time resign by written notice delivered to the chairman of the parish council* | On receipt of the written notice. |
| *There is no process for retracting a resignation once it is handed to the chairman. A notice of intent to resign on a given date is not considered to be a resignation. | ||
| Death | Death of a parish councillor | Vacancy is deemed to have occurred on the date of the death* |
| *Where this is the case, the notice of vacancy may be produced on a date after the funeral is held, however any requests for an election in the interim remain valid. | ||
| Ceasing to be qualified | This usually occurs if a parish Councillor has used their entry on the electoral register as their only qualification for nomination and they cease to be on the register of electors. | Parish council must declare the vacancy. The date of the declaration is the effective date of vacancy. |
| Becoming disqualified | This can occur through bankruptcy, office holding, surcharge, conviction, court order or being found guilty of corrupt practice of law. | Parish council must declare the vacancy. The date of the declaration is the effective date of vacancy. |
| Failure to attend meetings | This occurs if a Councillor fails throughout a period of six consecutive months from the date of their last attendance to attend any meeting of the parish council, unless the reason for failure was approved by the parish Council before the expiry of the six- month period* | Parish council must declare the vacancy. The date of the declaration is the effective date of vacancy. |
| *The meetings for attendance can include committees, sub-committees or as a representative of the parish council. | ||
A Notice of Casual Vacancy will be produced for the Council by the BMSDC Elections team upon notification from the Clerk of a vacancy. The Clerk must display the Notice in the parish as soon as practicable after the date on which the vacancy has occurred.
In the case of the death of a parish Councillor, it is a matter for the parish to decide the appropriate date on which to notify the BMSDC Elections team; informally common practice has been to wait until after the funeral service before issuing such a Notice.
The notice must be posted in some conspicuous place or places within the area of the parish (or parish ward, if applicable) and in such other manner, if any, as appears to be desirable for giving publicity to the notice. Examples include a village hall display board or a village notice board.
Other publicity may include the parish council’s newsletter, website or social media.
The notice will also be displayed on the Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councillor Vacancies pages
https://www.babergh.gov.uk/councillor-vacancies and https://www.midsuffolk.gov.uk/councillor-vacancies
The Notice of Vacancy should be used for this purpose only and should not be used to make reference to co-option.
At this stage the Council should indicate to the BMSDC Elections team what their preferences are for issuing poll cards in the event the election is requested:
Upon the expiry of the 14 days during which the Notice of Vacancy has been displayed, the parish council may co-opt to fill a casual vacancy IF the Returning Officer has not received ten valid requests for an election. You will need to receive confirmation from the BMSDC Elections team before you begin this process.
If the Returning Officer informs the parish council that an election has not been called, the parish may proceed to co-opt a member to fill the vacancy as soon as practicable.
You may be contacted by interested persons whilst the Notice of Vacancy is displayed. These electors may not wish to call an election but may be interested in standing via co-option. However, that person must be qualified to serve as a Councillor [see section 6] and be co-opted by a quorate parish council.
The parish council's debate and vote on the co-option must be conducted in the public section of its meeting. It follows that the candidates, as members of the public, will be entitled to be present during the proceedings.
Provided that the meeting has a quorum, the decision must be made by an absolute majority of members who are present and voting. For example, where there is a council of eleven members and there are nine Councillors present and voting, the absolute majority is five.
Where there are more than two candidates for the vacancy, it may be necessary to run a series of votes, each time removing the candidate who has the least number of votes until one candidate secures an absolute majority. Members must vote by show of hands unless the council has standing orders that provide otherwise.
An example advert/notice template is attached which the parish could use as a basis to advertise locally for interested parties. However, it is up to the parish council to decide how, where and when to encourage interested parties to come forward. The Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) are also able to provide resources and advice around the co-option process. https://www.salc.org.uk/
If, within fourteen days from the publication of the notice, the Returning Officer receives written requests for an election signed by TEN electors within the parish (or parish ward), an election must be held to fill the vacancy.
There is no prescribed form for this written request, a suggested template is attached at the end of this guidance.
It should be noted that these requests can be written separately, an election will still be triggered if by the end of the 14-day period the Returning Officer has received ten valid signed requests from electors.
The requests for election are available for public inspection on request.
The Returning Officer will then set a date for polling day, which must be within 60 days of the date of the Notice of Vacancy (excluding dies-non), and the election process will begin with the publication of a Notice of Election, copies of which will be supplied to the Clerk for publication.
The Notice of Election informs the electors where they may obtain nomination papers and the date by when they should be delivered. It gives the dates by which applications to vote by post or proxy must be made. It also gives the date of the election in the event of a contested election.
The parish council will start to incur the costs that will arise from staging an election, irrespective of whether it is contested or not, including poll cards (if requested) and postal votes. An estimated cost of an election and election timetable will be available from the elections team on request.
A person is qualified to be elected and to be a Councillor if they are a British, Commonwealth, Irish, Qualifying EU citizen*, or EU citizen with retained rights* and on the relevant day (that is, the day of nomination or election) they are 18 or over. In addition, the person must meet at least one of the following criteria:
On the relevant day and thereafter they continue to be on the electoral register for the parish, or
Except for qualification (1), these qualifications then continue for the full term of office, until the next ordinary elections. Certain people are disqualified from standing, and these include paid officers (including the clerks) of the council, bankrupts and those subject to recent sentences of imprisonment.
*Qualifying EU citizens: From countries with bilateral agreements (currently Denmark, Poland, Spain, Portugal, and Luxembourg).
*EU citizens with retained rights: Those who were resident in the UK before 31 December 2020 and maintain lawful immigration status.
There are certain people who are disqualified from being elected to a parish or community council in England and Wales. You cannot be a candidate if at the time of your nomination and on polling day:
No election is to be held for a casual vacancy that occurs within six months of the day on which the Councillor whose office is vacant would regularly have retired. The vacancy is filled at the next ordinary election.
The six-month rule only applies to vacancies that occur within six months of the day on which the Councillor would regularly have retired.
Therefore, if a vacancy arises before the date the six-month rule takes effect, a casual vacancy notice must be published, and an election may be called in response to the vacancy. If no election is called, the parish must proceed to co-opt as soon as practicable after the 14-day notice period expires.
If a vacancy arises after the date the six-month rules takes effect, a casual vacancy notice must still be published but no election can be called. The parish may co-opt someone to fill the vacancy, but it will otherwise be filled at the next ordinary election.
Following all-out ordinary elections every four years, if a seat has been left unfilled, then the parish can proceed to co-opt provided another election is not required (i.e. if the parish council is not quorate). There is no set timeframe to complete this process, and the seat(s) remain vacant and available for co-option until all seats are filled.
An example advert/notice template is attached which the parish could use as a basis to advertise locally for interested parties. However, it is up to the parish council to decide how, where and when to encourage interested parties to come forward.
If a vacancy subsequently arises whilst the unfilled seats are still waiting to be filled, then that new vacancy must follow the usual process of publishing a Notice of Vacancy.
The Suffolk Association of Local Councils should be contacted for further advice and guidance in the first instance. Their details can be found at https://www.salc.org.uk
The elections team can be contacted at elections@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk or 0300 123 4000 (Option 7)
• Representation of the People Act 1983 (as amended) Representation of the People Act 1985
• Local Government Act 1972
• The Local Government Elections (Parishes and Communities) (England and Wales) Rules 2006
