A Quick Guide to Council

Order of business

Positions such as co-chairs, editors, and some other positions are appointed by the OUSU Executive and OUSU publications board. These need to be ratified in council. If there is opposition to an appointment there is a speech in favour of the candidate and one against, and then a vote is taken.

Each candidate standing makes a speech, and then questions directed at all of the candidates are asked. Voting takes place by secret ballot.

Sabbaticals and other Executive members basically detail the work they've been doing in the past couple of weeks, and anything they are currently working on, and then take questions about their work or areas of responsibility.

Discussion of motions concerning matters that arose after the deadline for normal motions had passed.

The title of each motion on the agenda is read out & the chair asks if there is any opposition to, or questions concerning the motion. To register opposition, raise your hand. If there is no opposition the motions passes without discussion & will be skipped over on the agenda. If you would like to ask short factual questions (SFQs) about a motion, regardless of whether you support or oppose it, you have to oppose it at this stage

Motions are discussed in order of the type of motion, and then in the order in which they were submitted for the agenda. The procedure for discussing motions is detailed below - all motions are discussed in basically the same way

Discussions follow a set order:-

* The proposer of the motion or amendment gives a speech introducing it

* Anyone can ask questions of the proposer which aim to 'elicit a short factual response'. SFQs cannot relate to the proposer's opinions, i.e., not “Are you aware that…” or “Do you agree that…”
* There are no SFQs in the discussion of an amendment to a motion.

* After SFQs, the chair will call for a speech in Opposition - if there is no such speech then the motion is deemed to have passed
* Anyone can make points in the debate
* The chair will try to ensure that everyone can make their point
* During the debate anyone can propose an amendment to the motion as long as they write it down and pass it to the chair. discussion of an amendment runs mostly like discussion of a main motion
* Points of order can be used to steer the structure of the debate. To make a point of order stand and raise your hand. points of orders are listed below
* Debate ends when everyone has had their say or a procedural motion to move to a vote (MTV) is passed
* At the end of a debate the chair asks for one speech in favour and one against the motion (summation speeches) - anyone can take these speeches

* Votes on amendments & main motions are usually taken with a show of hands, but you can move a procedural motion that a vote be by secret ballot, or that everyone's vote is recorded.

Points of Order / Procedural Motions

Points of Order must relate to the procedure of the meeting. To make a point of order, stand and raise your hand - this should signal to the chair that you want to make a point of order rather than make a speech. Points of Order can be made at any time, except that:

* During a vote they must relate to the conduct of the vote
* During a speech they must be questioning whether the speech complies with Standing Orders
* Points of order from groups B or C (see below) cannot be made when discussing points of order from group A
* Points of order from group C cannot be made when discussing points of order from groups A or B

Order of precedence for points of order / procedural motions :

Group A:

* to have a Quorum Count (10 votes)
* to have no confidence in the Chair / to overturn a ruling of the Chair (two thirds vote)
* to suspend a certain part of the standing orders for some reason (two thirds vote)
* to have a secret ballot or a recorded vote (quarter vote)

Group B:

* to move to a vote (two thirds vote)
* to have a vote recounted (10 votes)
* that a motion/amendment not be put (not be discussed or voted on) (two thirds vote)
* to table a motion until later in the meeting (two thirds vote)
* to table a motion until the next meeting (two thirds vote)
* to change the order of business / the items on the agenda (two thirds vote)
* to take a motion in parts (consider & vote on parts of it separately) (simple majority)
* to grant speaking / attendance rights to a non-member of OUSU (simple majority)
* to adjourn the meeting for a specified time (two thirds vote)
* to close the meeting (two thirds vote)

Group C:

* to accept, reject or refer back a specified report (simple majority)
* to refer a motion to an OUSU Committee or the executive (simple majority)
* any other motion that refers to the procedure of the meeting (simple majority)

In debating procedural motions there is one speech in support and one in opposition & there are no summing up speeches. If you don't get what passing the motion would mean, you can address your question to the chair. The number in brackets here is the number of votes needed for the motion to pass.

In order to finish a debate and move on, you can suggest that we move to a vote (MTV). You can MTV during almost any debate, but not whilst a speech is being made. If it passes, a summation speech is taken for, and one against, then the vote is taken.

A secret ballot is basically a secret ballot, and the RO counts the votes and reports the result later in the meeting. In a recorded vote, someone reads out the names of everyone present, and in turn people call out which way they vote. The record of who voted & how is attached to the council minutes.

Moves some agenda items closer than others. This is often done because people are worried that the meeting will go inquorate before the end of the agenda, or that something should be discussed whilst there are the greatest number of people in council. You can theoretically move anything around on the agenda - you could move the reports or elections to the end if you really felt it necessary.

Points of Information

Points of information can be used to address council or someone who is speaking with a specific point. This can be useful to supply more information about a topic, or to correct a factual inaccuracy in a speech.
* To make a point of information, say point of information and wait for the speaker to accept or decline the point.
* Must be phrased as “short questions or statements.”
* Can be offered during any speech, except summing up speeches.

Quorum

The Quorum for council is 35 voting members. No business can be done without a quorum. In addition to this, no motion can be passed by council if there are less than 20 votes in favour. The chair has responsibility for checking that council is quorate. If council is inquorate, the chair can adjourn the meeting for 15 minutes so that voting members can arrive / be called back and the meeting continue.