Clarification on Annual Meeting date, following an election

17th of March, 2022

Annual council meeting dates – councils with elections

We have been asked about calculating the dates for when councillors take office and councils with elections can hold their annual meeting. The 2022 local election date is 5 May.

Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act 1972 provides that a parish council shall in every year hold an annual meeting. Paragraph 7 (2) says in a year which is a year of ordinary elections of parish councillors, the annual meeting of a parish council shall be held on, or within fourteen days after, the day on which the councillors elected at that election take office, and in any other year the annual meeting shall be held on such day in May as the parish council may determine.

Our view of paragraph 7 of Schedule 12 to the 1972 Act is that councillors will take office on Monday 9 May, making the relevant 14 day meeting period Tuesday 10-Wednesday 25 May inclusive.

This an area where we are aware there have been different interpretations of the computation of days. We have not counted Sundays in our 14 day calculation.