Public Question Time at SRA Board meetings

You may attend any Somerset Rivers Authority Board (SRA) meeting and ask questions or make statements, specifically about any matter on the meeting’s agenda, or more generally about issues relevant to the SRA.

A slot for Public Question Time is set aside near the beginning of every SRA Board meeting.

However, if you want to ask questions or make comments about a particular matter coming up later on the agenda, the Chair may ask if you would prefer to speak later in the meeting, when that matter is considered. What you say may thus be fresher in people’s minds.

The length of time you speak will normally be restricted to three minutes.

Questions and comments must be directed through the Chair. You may not take direct part in the debate, unless invited to do so by the Chair.

The Chair will decide when public participation is to finish.

Over the course of a meeting, no more than 30 minutes will usually be allocated to public questions and statements.

The SRA publishes agendas for Board meetings earlier than it is legally required to do so, usually 11 calendar days before the date of meetings. This is to give people more chance to prime themselves for specific matters coming up at meetings.

If you wish to speak at a meeting, you need to submit your question or statement in writing at least three clear working days before a meeting. So, for example, if a Board meeting is scheduled for a Friday morning, your deadline is noon on the Monday before. Send an email to sra@somerset.gov.uk and clearly mark it “Public Question for the SRA Board”.

Other queries can also be sent to sra@somerset.gov.uk. They will be answered within 10 working days.