Must minutes be signed at the same or the next following meeting by the chairman

Question

The clerk is telling councillors that minutes do not need to be signed as to their accuracy at the next following meeting and they can be left to be approved and signed at any meeting month later if that is what she wants to do

Answer 1

Minutes are the formal record of decisions taken at a meeting and presenting them for approval and signing by the Chair confirms their accuracy.  They only become the formal record of the meeting from a legal perspective once signed.  There is no legislation that states that they must be signed "at the following meeting" although clearly that is preferable.  It might not always be possible, however, if for example there is an additional meeting in quick succession or if the clerk or minute taker is unwell or away.  If the council is an exempt one (i.e. turnover less than £25,000 and therefore subject to the Transparency Act), a draft at least must be published within a month so it is not unreasonable to expect this to be the expected standard.
What the clerk "wants to do" and what you expect of him/her is your decision (within reason!) as a council.  I would certainly expect minutes produced for approval at the next meeting unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Comments

Found advice notes on minutes from the SLCC
It reads minutes must be signed at the some or the next following meeting by the presiding chairman

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Difficult to see how it can be done at the same meeting!  However, I stand by my advice that if there is an additional meeting which is very close after the main meeting (we've just had one for a planning matter which arrived too late to be considered at our main meeting), then the next meeting, which in our case is not until September because of the holiday break, is quite reasonable and acceptable to my council.

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Agreed DW the minutes have to be transcribed from the minute takers meeting note, or shorthand, or recording as there has to be a retained written record of the meeting. It is the accuracy of the transcription that councillors agree and the chair signs to verify that agreement.

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In the good old days (no, I'm not that old!) the final item for consideration at a meeting would be the approval of the minutes of that meeting, which were entered into the book whilst the meeting was taking place, before being agreed and signed to complete the business of the meeting. We can only hope that AI will take us back to the glory days and draw a line under the endless debate of who said what between aged councillors who can't remember what they had for breakfast, but claim to recall every word spoken a month previously!

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The way some of our meetings jump around the subject, I can't imagine AI making head nor tail of the debate sometimes and yes I am of that age and am that councillor who can't remember if I had breakfast let alone what it was!

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Perhaps we're tackling this problem from the wrong end. Should we be replacing the Councillors with AI?!

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Just found local government act 1972 schedule 12 paragraph 41 1/2 if any one wants to read it
F2/4 reads the next suitable meeting of the local authority is their next meeting to pass minutes