Recording of public participation

Question

Out of the blue without us being told our Agenda has been changed and It states that when we get to public participation ( which is several items in ) as it is not part of the formal meeting all recording must stop and if anyone wants to record the meeting they must get permission of the members of the public present
The agenda still warns that the meeting could be recorded
Is this legal ?

Answer 1

No! What should happen is that members of the public should be told that the meeting is being recorded from the start, and that they can place themselves off camera if they don't want to be seen. They should be advised that if they don't want to be heard asking the question, they should submit it in writing.

Comments

Graeme_r you know that and I know that but the main reason I asked is that this didn’t come from out of the blue and I wondered if it’s happened elsewhere and if so where it came from it
I also wondered if there had been a case heard somewhere that had changed established practice

Answer 2

That's a clumsy and muddled way of dealing with it. You could move the public participation to the top of the agenda and deal with it before the start of the formal proceedings. It needn't be a numbered item, but could just appear as a note stating that a period of public participation is available.

I'm aware of several councils that include it mid-meeting and vote to suspend the standing orders before it starts and reinstate them thereafter, which makes no sense, as the standing orders are the rules by which you govern the conduct of councillors and members of the public.

Answer 3

If public participation is listed on the summonsed agenda it has to be part of the formal meeting.

Comments

Should the subject  of the public participation therefore be recorded in the minutes ?

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Yes, however, the level of detail could be very sparse and tell you nothing e.g. Five questions were submitted by members of the public, and four verbal responses were given, and the clerk offered to provide a written response to the other.