NO SUMMONS ISSUED

Question

At my first staffing committee meeting I raised what I thought were valid points about our clerk's leave (no leave records) and appraisal (none in 2 years)  and this led to the clerk eventually storming out of the meeting .  Afterwards other Cllrs blamed me for not trusting the clerk to keep her own records whilst another accused me of not knowing how to deal with "professionals".  No minutes have ever been circulated from that meeting .  Should they be ?  Now in order to confirm a staff appointment (which should have been made at the first meeting ) an E mail has been received stating that we need to meet again .  To date no summons/agenda has been received .  Can we hold a meeting which makes decisions without an agenda first  being issued ??

Answer 1

I think this is another one of those questions in which the devil is in the (non-disclosed) detail!  But in simple terms, no you cannot have a valid meeting of a council or committee without that meeting being summonsed in the appropriate manner.  For the avoidance of doubt, this means a properly constructed agenda issued no later than three clear days before the meeting.

Comments

Summons issued to Cllrs AND notice of meeting made available to the public.

Answer 2

You’ve been posting here since 2018 Marcus - have you been a Cllr since 2018??

Reason I ask is that what you describe in this post is classic new Cllr asking questions about process which creates resistance / hostility / recriminations from:

 (a) longer standing Cllrs who may have dropped the ball (or indeed never had the ball)
(b) clerk / staff who consider themself ‘above’ being questioned.
You probably already know the answer to your question but are perhaps doubting yourself in the face of such hostile opposition.
If you can just laugh!  Any person that might suggest YOU don’t know how to handle a ‘professional’ is probably fully aware that their own lack of ‘professionalism’ is likey to be exposed by your perfectly reasonable - and professional - questions….

Hang in there

Comments

The problem with hanging in there is that it soon leads to a "why do I bother" state of mind . The  problem is that many elected Councillors aren't interested in being real Councillors so much so that those who seek to do things properly are often perceived as the problem.   I also understand that clerks when confronted with such chaos often seek to  "take over" and bring some order to proceedings .  With that there often comes a  perceived power. The problem is what can you do about it?.   Ultimately it is as DTC says viz "only Cllrs can change things".  Incidentally the meeting is not public I am assuming that makes no difference ?

---

What do you mean by "the meeting is not public"?   ALL meetings of the council or any committee are/must be open to the public.  It is possible to exclude the public in certain very limited circumstances if council resolves to do so for that specific agenda item but you cannot hold a "private" council meeting as such.   If a resolution is passed to exclude the public, it is the discussion that is confidential, not the resolution, so the item is still minuted.

---

That's interesting . As indicated this relates to a staffing meeting . In its TOR it clearly states that the public are entirely excluded from  the  meeting due to the confidential nature of the business.  That's seems entirely reasonable but are you saying that it must be advertised publicly and then the public excluded if they turn up .  I think I have also read somewhere that the subsequent minutes must be made public ?

---

It is a common misconception but it is a misconception.   By virtue of the Local Government Act 1972 s100 and the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, members of the public and press have  right to attend and observe town and parish council meetings and meetings of committees of town and parish councils.   The press or public may be excluded from a meeting for one or more agenda items if publicity during the discussion of that item would be prejudicial to the public interest.  A resolution to exclude the press and public during those items is required.   Of all types of discussion, it is common for staffing matters to be discussed in confidential session but note that the meeting itself must be open to the public at the start, notice must be given (i.e. the notice of meeting must be in a conspicuous place within the parish (and your website) and the meeting must allow the public to attend, even if it is only for the initial part of the meeting such as the declaration of interests, to receive apologies or whilst the minutes of the previous meeting are approved.  Frankly, your committee terms of reference are legally non-compliant.  As with all minutes of meetings of the council and its committees, minutes are required to be available to the public and should be published on your website.  As I have said, the discussion can be held without members of the public in attendance but the resultant resolution must be minuted and be available to the public.
The only type of meeting that can be held without due notice or the public in attendance is that of a working party or task and finish group but such meetings cannot make binding decisions.  They can only make recommendations to council.

---

Thank you DW but your latest posting seems not to appear here .  One last question is there any absolute timescale for the start of a public meeting  ??  The meeting under discussion is scheduled for 1pm.  Oops just read LTN5e can be at any time

---

The public cannot (appropriately) be excluded from the entirety of an HR / staff meeting just because it is “HR” or “staff” meeting.
That would be an inappropriate misuse of the very limited privilege of excluding the press and public under clearly defined circumstances.
Not ALL HR / staff matters are eligible for closed session - in fact, very few really are.
That said, it appears to be a commonly misused and abused rationale for clandestine meetings.
Discussing personal performance tick ✅ confidential

Discussing staff priorities NOT confidential ~ etc etc…