How do you get balance between role of clerk producing "accurate minutes" and Cllrs having concerns over accuracy

Question

I have seen issues over minutes asked and answered many times across the internet. I am a new Cllr and I have tried to view unbiased at the different positions. In standing orders the Clerk being the Proper Person clearly has various defined roles. One of this is production of accurate minutes (and this isnt a verbatim transcript , really only decisions/results of votes but with some additional supporting information where that would be helpful to better understand the decsions/actions.

I can also understand why there is a reluctance for Clerks to circulate to either all Cllrs (my view it would be good to do so) or even a smaller subset like Chair for initial view on their accuracy before publishing. I can imagine there can be instances where single )or even multiple) cllrs all start making suggestions on corrections or additions and the Clerk may feel this is forcing the minutes away from the accurate record that they made of the meeting.

However, I have now witnessed 2 meetings minutes where the draft (to be approved) have been significantly poor in reflecting at least the majority view of what was actually decided and/or relevant discussion. We have then spent far too long at that stage of agenda going over what are very strongly supported needed changes but rarely will be acknowledged by the clerk or the chair. This is resulting in either grudging acceptance (in the past ) that too much hassle to get changed so become fully approved minutes or now minutes that are published with a signed notice that they were not approved by the full counciil.

Surely there has to be a happy medium?

Answer 1

1 minutes only need to be a summary

2 get the council to record all meetings and retain the recordings for future reference
3 all motions should be clearly worded, fully recorded in the minutes, read to a meeting before a vote and proposed and seconded
4 record the vote for and against and if a contentious issue as for a recorded vote
5 after 10 years my Parish now puts draft minutes online I’d suggest a target of 5 working days as really the Clerk should write the minutes up no later than the next day when it’s fresh in the mind
6 the draft minutes should be agreed by the Chair before publication

Comments

@Jules - no issues with your points - to date resistance to "how minutes are formatted" and also agenda  has been from a Clerk who likes to do them how he does them (including  on agenda/notice inviting Cllrs rather than summon)  and strong support by the Chair - interspersed with no answers to communications between meetings , late delivery of minutes (numerous excuses of apparent computer or broadband failures on a regular basis).
We are calling an Extraordinary Meeting (following failure of Chair to call in 7 days) to try and address some of these concerns.
We are definitely starting to show that as new Cllrs with a stronger voting presence will not be deflected. However until you experience the reality of (particularly) a Clerk & Chair acting in unison -  ignoring and plotting their own route; with what seems very little High Level oversight or sanction from One Voice Wales (no teeth - will only communicate with Clerk or Chair) and lack of action from Ombudsman and Monitoring Officer and even Auditor General to failures its difficult to understand how frustrating the situation can be.
However, we will certainly be continuing to apply pressure for improved minutes (recording of actions and resolutions etc) and recording of meetings to allow better accuracy.
We have managed to get the Clerk to circulate initial draft to 2 Cllrs (Chair and Vice Chair) within 2-3 days and an agreement "on best endeavours" fo publishing on website in 7 working days.

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Rob I’ve  sent you a DM

Answer 2

If you don’t agree - vote accordingly.