PUBLICATION OF MINUTES, AGENDAS, AND PAPERS OF FORMAL MEETINGS
Councils must publish the draft minutes from all formal meetings (i.e. full council, committee and sub-committee meetings) not later than one month after the meeting has taken place. Even if the minutes have not been finalised the draft minutes should be published. Councils must also publish meeting agendas, which are as full and informative as possible, and associated papers not later than three clear days before the meeting is taking place.
The extract below is from guidance issued by a LC.
Parish councils can be liable for defamation cases caused by the contents of their minutes. Comments made by parishioners should be recorded very generally (e.g. “a parishioner raised an issue regarding planning enforcement in relation to an unauthorised development in the parish” rather than “Mrs Smith said that Mr Jones’ extension was illegal and was another example of his antisocial behaviour in the village, and that she’d heard he was about to start work on another one of his rental properties, and she was sure he didn’t declare his income on any of them anyway”……a real example!).
For the same reason, and many many others, minutes should be a record of decisions made and little else. They should never be a verbatim record of what individual cllrs have said, and rarely is it necessary to record details of debate (examples of when it would be material to do so would be in evidencing that appropriate advice had been considered, or risks assessed in relation to decisions).
There is no such thing as confidential minutes, ALL decisions taken in council meetings MUST by law be recorded.
The source for all Agendas/Minutes is SPC.
| Agenda 2023 | Minutes 2023 | Youtube Minutes 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 15th March 2023 | 15th March 2023 – Draft Minutes | NA |
| 23rd February 2023 | 23rd February 2023 – Draft Minutes | 23rd February 2023 (YouTube) |
| 18th January 2023 | 18 January 2023 Minutes | 18 January 2023 (YouTube) |
| Agenda 2023 | Minutes 2023 | Youtube Minutes |
| Agenda 2022 | Minutes 2022 | Youtube Minutes 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| 7 December 2022 | 7 December 2022 Minutes (not the PC version) | 7 December 2022 (YouTube) |
| 17 August 2022 | 17 August 2022 Draft Minutes | NA |
| 4 July 2022 | 4 July 2022 Minutes | NA |
| 15 June 2022 | 15 June 2022 (Cancelled) | NA |
| 21 April 2022 | 21 April 2022 Minutes (APM) | NA |
| 21 April 2022 | 21 April 2022 Minutes (Annual Meeting of the Parish Council | NA |
| 28 February 2022 | 28 February 2022 Minutes | NA |
| 28 Feb 2022 – Appendix 1 | NA | |
| 28 Feb 2022 – Appendix 2 | NA | |
| 28 Feb 2022 – Appendix 3 | NA | |
| 28 Feb 2022 – Appendix 4 | NA | |
| 28 Feb 2022 – Appendix 5 | NA | |
| 6 January 2022 Minutes | NA | |
| Agenda 2022 | Minutes 2022 | Youtube Minutes 2022 |
Recording of Parish Council Meetings!
It’s worth reading the following website pages, which explains the Government guidance:
- The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 – Click Link
- Openness and Accountability – Ask Your Council – Click Link
Most councils and ALC’s interpret the above as being able to video, photograph or audio record the whole meeting without notifying the council. Of course, it is polite and sensible to notify the council beforehand that recording of some kind will take place. Hopefully, SPC will have a draft policy in place which outlines their position of making Public Forum exempt from being recorded before the next meeting.
OFF TOPIC: The Council must have Publication Scheme and a Procedure for Handling Complaints as per NALC guidance (page 70 of Local Councils Explained) to be published.
