PC set up working group of 4 re new community centre, Can Working Group exclude other councillors?

Question

The terms of reference were reduced retrospectively recently, it was 6 members - the whole finance committee. Is there any legal reason why other councillors should not be able to attend.  The Clerk informs me that it is an individual Council procedure to follow in accordance with their internal running practices.

Answer 1

This is why I personally found "workings groups" generally problematic the longer I have been involved. They not public meetings (and as result some councils increasingly fear are using them to shield contentious business away from fellow members & indeed wider public). Your "rights" are limited and that in itself seems so unfair with it not been public meeting.

Comments

Thank you for the comment. There does seem to be a wish to exclude independent councillors - we are a minority - from this process.

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People sometimes see working groups as the answer to the formal requirements of a committee but in reality there are limited circumstances where they are appropriate.  They cannot make decisions but can include members of the public or non councillors.  I've often found that unless they have clear terms of reference, have an agenda and clear direction, there's a tendency to go "off piste", forget the reason they were formed and fail to achieve anything.  We generally agree who the participants are in a meeting (committee or full council, depends upon the reason for setting up the working group in the first place) so membership is open and transparent.

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I'm not sure of the reason for setting up the working group - apart from excluding independent observation of discussion. It appears there is very little I can do - the reply I have had from the Clerk on asking if there is any legal reason to prevent my attending the meeting is:
To my knowledge the only legislation I am aware of is that Council’s are not required to invite the public to attend meetings of the working groups, it is not mandatory within the Council Laws. I’m not aware that legality comes into play here as it is an individual Council Procedure to follow in accordance with their internal running practices.

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We use working groups to for putting together proposals for agreement by the council or committee that set them up.  So, for example, a working might be tasked with gathering information on an issue or proposal, investigating how other councils resolve common problems, drafting policies and the like.  A better description might be task and finish groups as that's what they do:  carry out a specific task and then bring the results back to council or committee.

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Thank you, the reassuring thing is that they cannot make decisions, but the political party have the majority anyway so it is as good as.