Have your say at Council meetings
Full Council, Cabinet, individual Cabinet member and committee meetings are open to the public and press. Anyone is free to come along and listen to the debates.
If you can’t attend in person you can watch Full Council and Cabinet meetings live online or at a later date to suit you.
Most meetings are held at County Hall in Lewes. You do not have to stay for the whole meeting.
Agendas for meetings
These can normally be downloaded in advance. If you are interested in a particular agenda item you can leave after that has been dealt with, or aim to arrive later if the item is further down the agenda.
Agendas, minutes and reports for meetings can be found via the web page for the committee concerned:
Accessibility to Council meetings
All meeting rooms have wheel chair access and a hearing loop. If you have a visual impairment we can arrange for you to receive papers in large print or Braille – please contact Democratic Services.
Confidential items
The public and press are not allowed to be present when confidential matters are discussed. The agenda will state whether items are confidential. Any confidential matters will be discussed at the end of a meeting.
Anyone living or working in East Sussex can ask questions at Full Council meetings.
Submitting questions
To give councillors time to prepare a full response, questions must be submitted in writing at least five clear working days before the meeting. This means that questions for a Council meeting on a Tuesday must be received no later than the Monday of the week before.
Questions must relate to matters that the Council has legal authority to influence and cannot relate to individuals or be of a personal nature.
How questions are answered
Questions will be answered in writing by Cabinet members or the Chairman. These written answers will be circulated in the council chamber before the start of the meeting. This gives questioners time to consider the answer before the relevant agenda item is reached.
At the appropriate time, the Chairman will ask the questioner whether the answer that they have received is clear. If you need clarification on any points this is your chance to ask, although you cannot use this as an opportunity to ask a new question.
Send your questions to
The Assistant Chief Executive
County Hall
St Anne’s Crescent
Lewes BN7 1UE
Or email Democratic Services.
Please include your name and address.