Exclusion of public Paragraph 1 (2) of The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960

Question

Our parish council seems to frequently use this to discuss things without publishing any minutes.

The latest example is that there are protestors on their property due to the councils plans to fell a large tree. All discussions of this topic are routinely hidden from the public under the clause "In accordance with Paragraph 1 (2) of The Public Bodies

(Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, the Council is invited to consider if the press and public should be

excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item(s) owing to the

confidential nature of the business."

The exclusions include legal advice as well as discussions about hiring contractors to fell the tree.

No reason is stated in the minutes for excluding the press and public, only that a vote was passed to do so.

Are they being reasonable? This is a very controversial topic locally and I know many people would like to know more information on what is motivating the council to make the decisions they are making.

Answer 1

Discussions leading to the decision to fell a tree must take place in public, as there is a legitimate public interest. Once the decision has been made, it should not be reconsidered unless new information comes to light that was not available at the time of the original decision.

There may be aspects of subsequent matters arising from the public opposition that could fall within the exclusion regime, including legal advice and the appointment of a contractor, as you have suggested.

Comments

"Discussions leading to the decision to fell a tree must take place in public"

Thats interesting, because there is nothing in the council minutes about this between seeking "further clarification to questions from the insurers" in early 2024 and a decision having been taken in time for Jan 2025 (which was apparently leaked by someone to the protestors, allowing them to set their camp up in time to stop the felling).