Have your say at a council or committee meeting

We welcome participation from the public at council and committee meetings and to help organise this speakers are required to register in advance of the meeting.

You can speak at any meeting on any matter on the public agenda, with the exception of the annual meeting of Full Council.

Find dates of meetings on the calendar.
See the agendas and minutes for meetings.
- agendas can be seen at the council offices five clear working days before the meeting
- agendas are also uploaded to the website on the day of publication.
Our forward plan sets out a list of items the Council and the Executive will be considering over the next 12 months.
Subscribe to receive alerts when agendas, decisions or minutes of meetings have been published or follow the Council's Twitter feed @GuildfordBC or Facebook page.

If you wish to speak or ask a question at a meeting, you must register in advance and check the rules. The rules differ depending on the meeting. Those rules for each committee are set out below, but any queries should be directed to committeeservices@guildford.gov.uk.

Location

Meetings are held at the Council Offices, Millmead, Guildford GU2 4BB.

(The Annual Council meeting in May is at The Guildhall, High Street, Guildford.)

Times

Council meetings start at 7pm (except for Licensing Sub Committee meetings, which are held during the day).

Petitions

Visit the petitions and e-petitions page to find out more about setting up a petition.

Guidance for speaking at Full Council meetings

Find out about the rules for speaking at a full council meeting. Read more >

Guidance for speaking at a Planning Committee meeting

You may be interested in speaking at a Planning Committee meeting if you have applied for planning permission and your application is being considered by the Planning Committee, if you are the neighbour of someone whose planning application is being considered by the Planning Committee, or if you are interested in planning and how the Planning Committee makes decisions. Read more >

Guidance for speaking at general committee meetings

Find out what the rules are about speaking at the following committee meetings: Executive (including the Executive Shareholder and Trustee Committee); Corporate Governance and Standards Committee; Community Executive Advisory Board; Place Making and Innovation Executive Advisory Board; Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and Licensing Committee. Read more >

Guidance for speaking at the Guildford Joint Committee meeting

If there is something you want to know about how your council works or what it is doing in your area, you can ask the Guildford Joint Committee about it. Read more >

Guidance for speaking at Licensing sub-committee meetings

Find out about the rules for speaking at Licensing sub-committee meetings. Read more >

Social media rules

The use of social media - filming, photographing or recording in formal meetings which are open to the public - is permitted for members of the public, press and councillors, so long as this does not cause any disruption or disturbance. The Chairman's decision on this point will be final. To minimise disruption to others attending the meeting, all attendees including councillors, must ensure that their phone or other mobile devices are set to silent mode during the meeting.

Webcasting

Meetings are webcast for live and subsequent broadcast on our website, except where confidential matters are being discussed. Licensing sub-committee meetings are webcast if it is seen to be in the public interest and with the consent of the chairman.

Privacy rules

If you participate in a public meeting, your name and where applicable, any organisation you represent at the meeting, may be recorded in the Order Paper (for a Council Meeting), or Supplementary Information Paper (for Executive and Committees) and in the published minutes. If a greater number of public speakers wish to register to speak than the rules permit, you may be asked (if you have already registered to speak) to provide written consent for your contact details to be shared with those others so that a spokesperson can be nominated.