Standing Rules and Orders of Council
Rule 19: Acting Speaker when Speaker is unavailable
Rule 19(1) says that when the Council Speaker is absent, unavailable, or needs to be relieved during a meeting, the Chairperson of Committees (the Chair of Chairs) automatically becomes Acting Speaker and presides over Council. The minutes show it being read into the record at the start of meetings where the Speaker could not attend or was handing over the chair. Only subsection (1) appears in these passages; any other parts of Rule 19 are unclear.
Plain-English summary written with AI from how the City's minutes quote and use the rule. The official text is not published by the City.
The rule's own words
If the Speaker is absent or not available to undertake her/his duties or needs to be relieved during a meeting, the Chairperson of Committees shall be the Acting Speaker.
As quoted in the City's signed minutes.
How the minutes record it
She invoked Rule 19(1) of the Standing Rules and Orders of Council, which provides that: “If the Speaker is absent or not available to undertake her/his duties or needs to be relieved during a meeting, the Chairperson of Committees shall be the Acting Speaker.”
Signed minutes, Wednesday, 25 June 2025Councillor LE Phillips, as acting Speaker referred Council to Rule 19 of the Standing Rules and Orders of Council and read it as follows: “(1) If the Speaker is absent or not available to undertake his or her duties, or needs to be relieved during a meeting, the Chairperson of Committees shall be the Acting Speaker.”
Signed minutes, Wednesday, 22 March 2023