1.—(1) The first meeting of the Authority shall be convened by the town clerk of the City of Manchester for such day (not being later than one month after the appointed day) and at such time and place as may be fixed by the said town clerk who shall, not less than 14 days before the day fixed for that meeting, send notice of that meeting by post to each member of the Authority of whose appointment the said town clerk has been notified.
(2) The said town clerk shall, until such time as the Authority have appointed their Secretary, exercise all such functions on behalf of the Authority as are imposed by this Order on the said Secretary or as might be expected to be exercised by a person appointed to be the Secretary of such a body as the Authority, and as respects anything occurring or falling to be done under or in relation to this Order before such appointment has been made the references in this Order to the Secretary of the Authority shall be construed as references to the said town clerk.
(3) The first business to be transacted at the first meeting of the Authority shall be the appointment in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule of a person to act as Chairman of the Authority, and for the purposes of the transaction of this business the chair at that meeting shall be taken by the Lord Mayor of the City of Manchester or, if he is unable to be present at that meeting, by such person (not being a member of the Authority) as has been nominated to do so by the said Lord Mayor, but no person taking the chair at that meeting by virtue of this sub-paragraph shall be entitled to cast any vote in connection with the transaction of the business aforesaid.
(4) A certificate purporting to be signed by the town clerk of the City of Manchester that any person has been nominated by the Lord Mayor of that City as mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) above shall be conclusive evidence of the inability of the said Lord Mayor to be present at the said first meeting of the Authority and of the fact of the nomination of that person.
2.—(1) The first meeting of the authority after their establishment shall be the annual meeting of the Authority for the year 1969 and the first meeting of the Authority after the 31st May in any subsequent year shall be the annual meeting for that year.
(2) In every year after 1969 the Authority shall hold their annual meeting as soon as possible after the 31st May and in any event before the 31st July in that year.
(3) The Authority shall between each annual meeting hold at least three other meetings for the transaction of general business and such other meetings shall be held as nearly as may be at regular intervals.
3.—(1) Subject to paragraph 5 of this Schedule, the Authority shall at their annual meeting in each year appoint one of their members to be Chairman of the Authority and the person so appointed shall come into office forthwith and continue in office until his successor becomes entitled to act as Chairman:
(2) The Authority may at each annual meeting appoint one of their number to be Vice Chairman and the provisions of the last foregoing sub-paragraph shall apply in relation to a Vice Chairman as they apply in relation to a Chairman.
(3) The appointment of a Chairman of the Authority shall be the first business to be transacted at each annual meeting of the Authority.
4.—(1) Subject to paragraph 5 of this Schedule, on a casual vacancy occurring in the office of Chairman or Vice Chairman the vacancy shall be filled by the appointment by the Authority of one of their members at a meeting to be held as soon as practicable after the vacancy occurs. Where the office so becoming vacant is that of Chairman, such a meeting may be convened by the Secretary of the Authority.
(2) A person appointed under this paragraph to fill a vacancy shall hold office for the period for which the person in whose place he is appointed would have held office and shall then vacate his office but shall be eligible for re-appointment.
5.—(1) A person appointed to be Chairman of the Authority may act as such only for the purpose of presiding at the meeting at which he is appointed unless his appointment is approved by the Minister.
(2) If in the case of a person appointed to be Chairman of the Authority the Minister decides not to approve the appointment, then as from the date on which the Minister notifies his decision to the Authority there shall for the purposes of paragraph 4 of this Schedule be deemed to be a casual vacancy in the office of Chairman, but this provision shall be without prejudice to the right of a previous Chairman to continue in office under paragraph 3 of this Schedule until his successor becomes entitled to act as Chairman.
6.—(1) The Chairman of the Authority may call a meeting of the Authority at any time.
(2) If the Chairman refuses to call a meeting of the Authority after a requisition for that purpose signed by 5 members of the Authority has been presented to him or if, without so refusing, the Chairman does not call a meeting within 14 days after such requisition has been presented to him, any 5 members of the Authority may forthwith call a meeting of the Authority.
(3) At least 7 clear days before a meeting of the Authority—
(a)notice of the time and place of the intended meeting shall be published at the offices of the Executive or at such other place as is fixed for the meeting of the Authority, and
(b)a summons to attend the meeting specifying the business proposed to be transacted thereat shall be left at or sent by post to the usual place of residence of every member of the Authority.
(4) In a case where the meeting is called by members of the Authority under sub-paragraph (2) above the notice referred to in sub-paragraph (3)(a) above shall be signed by those members and shall specify the business proposed to be transacted thereat, and no business other than that specified in the said notice shall be transacted at a meeting so called.
(5) Want of service on a member of the Authority of the summons referred to in sub-paragraph (3)(a) above shall not affect the validity of the meeting.
7. The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 5 of Part V of Schedule 3 to the Act of 1933 (which provide as to the conduct of business at meetings) shall apply to the Authority as if the Authority were a local authority and as if for the references therein to that Act there were substituted references to this Order.
8. Copies of the minutes kept of the proceedings of each meeting of the Authority shall be sent by the Secretary of the Authority to the town clerk or clerk of every constituent council and to the Director General and each other member of the Executive not later than 21 days after the meeting.
9. There shall be sent to every deputy of a member of the Authority copies of all notices of meetings and other papers which are sent to that member in connection with any such meeting.
10. Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Schedule, the Authority may make rules with respect to the meetings and proceedings of the Authority (including quorum, place of meeting and notices to be given of meetings) and subject as aforesaid and to any rules so made the Authority may regulate their own procedure.
11. The application of the seal of the Authority shall be authenticated by the signature of the Secretary of the Authority or some other person authorised by the Authority, either generally or specially, to act for the purpose.