You can ask a question at either a Full Council or a Cabinet meeting.
Full Council meetings
You can ask one question to a Member of the Cabinet or a Chairperson of a Committee at meetings of the Full Council.
Questions must relate to matters which Full Council are responsible for.
Public questions cannot be asked at:
- the Annual Council meeting
- the budget council meeting
- special council meetings.
Cabinet meetings
For a trial period between June and December 2025, you can ask one question to a Member of the Cabinet at meetings of the Cabinet.
Questions must relate to matters which the Cabinet are responsible for, including specific items on each Cabinet agenda during the trial period.
View the agenda and minutes of Cabinet meetings.
You can also read about the Cabinet Forward Plan, which gives details of forthcoming reports to be submitted to Cabinet on a 4-monthly rolling basis.
When to submit your question
Deadlines for submitting a question are different for Full Council and Cabinet meetings.
Full Council
For a question at a Full Council meeting, you'll need to submit your question by 12pm on:
- Monday 7 July 2025 for the Full Council meeting on Thursday 17 July 2025
- Monday 6 October 2025 for the Full Council meeting on Thursday 16 October 2025
- Monday 12 January 2026 for the Full Council meeting on Thursday 22 January 2026
- Monday 13 April 2026 for the Full Council meeting on Thursday 23 April 2026.
We do not have public questions at the Full Council budget meeting in February or at Annual Council in May each year.
Cabinet
For a question at a Cabinet meeting, you'll need to submit your question by 12pm on:
- Thursday 29 May 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 3 June 2025
- Thursday 3 July 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 8 July 2025
- Thursday 24 July 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 29 July 2025
- Wednesday 20 August 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 26 August 2025
- Thursday 18 September 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 23 September 2025
- Thursday 16 October 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 21 October 2025.
- Thursday 13 November 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 18 November 2025
- Thursday 11 December 2025 for the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 16 December 2025.
How to submit a question
You can send us your question by using our online form.
In the form, you'll need to tell us:
- your name
- your address
- the name of the Member of the Council the question is for, including which meeting you would like your question to be submitted to.
Ask a question at a Full Council or Cabinet meeting
Or post your question to: Chief Executive, c/o Democratic Services, Medway Council, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TR.
If your question is accepted for consideration, it will be sent immediately to the member who is expected to answer.
Reasons questions may be rejected
The Chief Executive may reject a question if it:
- is not about a matter for which the council has responsibility or which does not affect the area
- is frivolous, defamatory, offensive, racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise improper
- is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of the council in the past six months
- requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information. We will explain why, if your question is rejected.
If your question is rejected, we will explain to you why.
Publishing your question
The Chief Executive will enter each question in a book open to public inspection and will send a copy of the question to the member the question was asked to.
Rejected questions will include reasons for rejection.
If the question has been rejected because it is considered frivolous, defamatory, offensive, racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise improper, only the fact that a question was received and that it was considered so will be entered.
Copies of all questions will be circulated to all members in the agenda for the meeting and will be made available to the public attending the meeting.
Attending full Council and Cabinet meetings
Full Council meetings are usually held at 7pm on a Thursday at the St George’s Centre, Pembroke Road, Chatham Maritime. Cabinet meetings are usually held at 7pm on a Tuesday at the same location.
There will be 40 minutes set aside for dealing with public questions at Full Council meetings and 20 minutes set aside for dealing with questions at Cabinet meetings.
If you cannot attend the meeting, you can send a representative to ask the question on your behalf. Alternatively, if this is not possible, the question will be put at the meeting on your behalf and a response provided - subject to the time limits for this agenda item.
If you're attending a meeting to ask a question, arrive 15 minutes before the start. You'll be met by a member of staff and shown to your seat.
At the meeting, you (or your representative) will be invited to put your question to the member named. If you're attending the meeting in person, you can then put one short supplementary question arising from the response at the meeting and to receive a reply to this supplementary question. This provision will not apply if you do not attend the meeting in person.
After the meeting, you'll be provided with a copy of the response to your question. You can also view the meeting online.