Should parihs council minutes state when a councillor leaves a meeting while it's in session

Question

At a 'closed' meeting of our parish council to address staffing business, one of the councillors attending had to leave about three-quarters of the way through. No mention of this councillors exist was made in the minutes. As there were still items on the agenda to be decided upon and resolutions minuted should it be made plain to electors that one of the councillors was not in attendance for the entire meeting? Are the minutes published about this meeting accurate if the councillor's departure from it are not recorded?

Answer 1

Without seeing when councillors left or rejoined a meeting it is difficult to see whether the rules on not remaining in the room during an item in which they have an interest have been complied with. The meeting could also become inquorate if a councillor leaves.

So it would be good practice to make a note of all exits/entries by councillors. Whether there is any particular law that demands this i am not sure. There is a legal requirement: 'The names of the members present at a meeting of a local authority shall be recorded'. Whether this creates the need to record exits or just the members present at the start i guess would be open to debate.

Answer 2

If I left the meeting early or for that matter arrived late, I'd expect to see that minuted, if only to confirm what items I was present for.  I'd ask for an amendment to be made to the minutes to reflect this even if in practice it makes not real difference to the decisions taken at the meeting.