Questions about town and parish councils
Follow Councillor Q&A on BlueSky

Follow us on BlueSky

0 votes
We recently had a meeting with an agenda item to no longer publicise the recordings of the meeting on our website.

Would this take immediate effect or should we publish the recording of that meeting and then not publish any more going forward.
it wasn't clear at the decision making process. to add, the agenda for this meeting states that the recording will be published, so therefore I would assume that this meetings recording would be and future agendas amended to reflect the decision made.

to give another example - at the same meeting we decided to combine our public participation sections together which was voted for and agreed, but that was stated that it wouldn't start until the next meeting.  Just don't want to look conflicting on one or the other items.
Both of these items are relative specifically to the agenda and the workings of the meeting.
Many thanks.
by (220 points)
edited by

2 Answers

0 votes
If there was a previous resolution to publish recordings that should stay in effect until the (rather bizarre and retrograde) decision not to.  So that part of the meeting which precedes the later decision not to, should be published.  Whether reasonable to stop the publication at the point of the changed decision, or let it run until the end of that meeting is very much a local decision.

Would you share any of the background justification for the decision to cease posting the recording?

If there is any member of public present that wants to record and publicise of course they are still perfectly entitled to do so and it is incumbent upon the council to reasonably facilitate their desire to do so.

Do you (or did you) have 2 separate public sessions?  Perhaps one at the beginning and one part way through the meeting - and that is what has been resolved to be combined into a single public session?
Again, without knowing the background / justification for the proposal its impossible to comment (and the comment is irrelevant anyway) whether this is a good move or not - those that were present and voting wanted this to happen so they must know why they thought it appropriate.

Not much constructive help probably but its all a bit too woolly to present a meaningful response.
by (24.6k points)
0 votes
I do sometimes think we get too hung up on the detail rather than just getting on with the job.  However, if the decision has been made not to publish the recording, I'd certainly not publish half the meeting recording; that's just nonsensical.  Either do it or don't do it but I'd personally retain it should there be a request for it by a member of the public at a later date.  Thereafter, I would stick to whatever decision has been taken with regard to the actual recording of meetings going forward and ensure there is an appropriate policy with regard to retention of any recording thereafter.

As for the public participation session, the decision was taken to change this from the next meeting.  You therefore have your action as agreed for that particular resolution.
by (21.9k points)

Welcome to Town & Parish Councillor Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community. All genuine questions and answers are welcome. Follow us on Twitter to see the latest questions as they are asked - click on the image button above or follow @TownCouncilQA. Posts from new members may be delayed as we are unfortunately obliged to check each one for spam. Spammers will be blacklisted.

You may find the following links useful:

We have a privacy policy and a cookie policy.

Clares Cushions logo Peacock cushion

Clare's Cushions creates beautiful hand made cushions and home accessories from gorgeous comtemporary fabrics. We have a fantastic selection of prints including Sophie Allport and Orla Kiely designs and most covers can be ordered either alone or with a cushion inner. Buying new cushions is an affordable and effective way to update your home interior, they're also a great gift idea. Visit our site now

3,119 questions
6,167 answers
8,587 comments
10,870 users
Google Analytics Alternative