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by (130 points)

1 Answer

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The procedure is to put a motion to exclude the public and vote on it. Unless your standing orders say otherwise, you can do this without prior notice, although it is helpful for the public if they are warned in advance by an agenda item. Usually, an item of this kind is put to the end of the agenda to avoid pushing the public out of the meeting part way through, although this is not a legal requirement. If your standing orders require advance notice, you can still vote to suspend the relevant item, since it is not legally required.

A sound reason must be given in the motion to exclude, although there is no requirement to go into so much detail as to defeat the object of exclusion. For example, if the discussion would involve breaching an obligation of confidentiality, then the public must be excluded. Likewise, an employment matter is likely to require exclusion. It is undesirable to exclude the public without solid reasons.

Any decision made after exclusion must still be minuted, although this may be done with as little detail as possible consistent with recording that the council has made a decision and what that decision is. Decisions can only be made on agenda items, as is generally the case. There is never a requirement to record the debate in the minutes. Electors have a right to inspect minutes.
by (33.0k points)
Hi, this is a very concise answer. I was going to ask a separate question but it seems better asking it here.

This is an actual minute recorded and I believe it doesn’t meet the required standard as it doesn’t state the reason for exclusion of the public - Am I correct ?

FPC 2020/12 To determine if any items should be taken with the press and public excluded
It was RESOLVED by a majority vote to take items 16.5 and 17 with the press and public excluded.
Yes, I'd agree with you. Excluding the public should be discouraged unless absolutely necessary. Obviously the reason will not go into too much detail, but there should be something to justify the exclusion and the minutes should record this.
Thanks for the quick feedback. I don’t want to get into the details as it will be war and peace ( actually I want to !!!)

Is there any remedy that can be taken from this. Could it be said that it was unlawful To exclude the public, therefore what action can be taken next? It seems parish councils can get away with a lot of misbehaving.
It is unlawful to exclude the public without good reason. Unfortunately you are right in thinking that parish councils get away with a lot. In many cases, nothing will happen unless someone wishes to challenge a decision in the High Court. That is an expensive option, and rarely taken. The practical reality is that citizens and right minded councillors should continually press councils to act according to the law. Publicity can sometimes work wonders. The ultimate sanction is to throw out councillors who refuse to behave properly at election time. That, of course, presumes there are willing candidates to replace them. The goal has to be to encourage citizens to keep councils on their toes and to participate actively in local democracy.
Yep, parish council governance needs tightening for sure. We are a £500k precepting council with £900k budget employing lots of people being run by inexperienced and unqualified members. So many things are wrong from following laws and standing orders, through to lack of competency, and lack of will. Not to mention lack of vision, plan or objectives.
Being a District councillor helps a lot with learning “the ropes”
I hope you are able to push for higher standards, and to make progress! It's only through individual action that things change.

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