Proceedings of boards and committees
13The proceedings of a board, or of any committee appointed under this Schedule, shall not be invalidated by any vacancy in their number or by any defect in the appointment, or the qualification for appointment, of any person as a member, or as chairman or vice-chairman, of the board or committee.
14(1)A board may make standing orders with respect to—
(a)the proceedings and conduct (including quorum, place of meeting and notices to be given of meetings) of the board or any committee appointed by the board under this Schedule ; and
(b)subject to paragraphs 9 and 10 of this Schedule, the appointment of a chairman and a vice-chairman of the board or any such committee.
(2)Subject to standing orders made under this paragraph, the proceedings of any committee appointed under this Schedule shall be such as the committee may determine.
15At any meeting of a board or of a committee appointed under this Schedule, each member shall have one vote:
Provided that in the event of an equality of votes—
(a)as to the appointment of the chairman of a board or the appointment of a member of a regional water board to be a member of a water development board, the matter shall be decided by lot, and
(b)in regard to any other matter, the chairman or other member presiding at the meeting shall have a casting vote as well as a deliberative vote.
16The provisions of section 73 of the [1947 c. 43.] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (disability of members of local authority for voting on account of interest in contract) shall apply in relation to members of a board, or of any committee appointed under this Schedule, as those provisions apply in relation to members of local authorities, as if, for the references therein to the local authority, there were substituted references to the board.
17(1)Subject to the next following sub-paragraph, the minutes of proceedings of meetings of a board shall be open to the inspection of any local government elector in any part of the board's area on payment of a fee not exceeding one shilling, and any such local government elector may make a copy of, or extracts from, any such minutes.
(2)The last foregoing sub-paragraph does not apply to any part of such minutes which contains information with respect to any manufacturing process or trade secret obtained in the exercise of powers under the Water (Scotland) Acts 1946 to 1967.