County council representatives at EGMs/AGMs

In my OMC, the county council owns 8 properties, which is a significant share. I’ve been very unhappy with how things have been managed over the past 15 years, and now that the council has started to take a more active interest, I want to make sure we’re fully prepared.

At AGMs or EGMs, the council obviously has the right to vote if their charges are paid up. Since they typically send a representative, do they need to complete proxy forms ahead of time? I want to be clear on the process so we can avoid any surprises and ensure nothing gets blocked or delayed by procedural issues.

Basically, I want to have all the necessary paperwork and procedures in place as a safeguard — to protect the interests of the owners and keep things moving forward.

Any advice or examples from your own OMCs would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Unlikely that your OMC has special rules for owners who happen to be county councils.

I think most OMCs will accept proxy forms on the night; they don't require them to be filed in advance. But your OMC may vary; we have no way of knowing.

TomEdison said:

Unlikely that your OMC has special rules for owners who happen to be county councils.

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Thanks. No special rules.

Sorry maybe I’m just over thinking. But my thoughts are who from the council would sign the proxy form.

I’ve attended other OMC agms on behalf of owners where they, the owner signed the proxy form.

So when the owner is the county council. Who can sign then? I’m not expecting anyone here to have an answer. Just curious if anyone has had similar situations

Do the council attend the meetings? We've significantly more than 8 council-owned properties in our development, and in 17 years, they've never once attended an AGM.

tnegun said:

Do the council attend the meetings

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Interestingly no. However we have stated making big changes recently and they have really started to engage. We are hosting an EGM to push through changes which wouldn’t be favourable to tenants in general (but all above board) they have requested details of the EGM for their attendance. Should they actually attend is a different story.

Whiteglass_ale said:

So when the owner is the county council. Who can sign then? I’m not expecting anyone here to have an answer. Just curious if anyone has had similar situations

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The County Council will have internal protocols about which officials deal with what business on behalf of the council. People dealing with the council from outside have no duty to be aware of, or to "police", those protocols. If a proxy form purportin to be signed on behalf of the Council is presented to you and there are no circumstances to suggest that it is not in order, you can accept that at face value without enquiring further. I would expect that would be the policy of most OMCs, though I haven no first-hand experience.

You don't have to accept it at face value. If you really want to be bolshie, you can insist on confirmation — e.g. ask to see a certfied copy of the internal council document under which the person who has signed the form is granted the authority to do so, or ask the Council to have its lawyers confirm that the proxy form is validly signed on behalf of the council.