Can a Councillor ask for his/her words to be minuted?

Question

Please could you explain the difference between minuting and a statement?

Answer 1

In my experience, there is no provision for a member's words to be recorded in the minutes.  There is provision for details of votes to be recorded and this is covered in the model standing orders, as follows:-

Unless standing orders provide otherwise, voting on a question shall be by a show of hands. At the request of a councillor, the voting on any question shall be recorded so as to show whether each councillor present and voting gave his vote for or against that question. Such a request shall be made before moving on to the next item of business on the agenda.

The wording of a motion on which a vote takes place will, of course, be included in the minutes.  Such wording must be agreed between the contributor and the Clerk prior to the publishing of the agenda for the meeting, but can be amended during the meeting.

Comments

Arnold-Baker supports you on this "They [minutes] are intended to be formal records of official acts and decisions, not reports, still less verbatim reports, of the speeches made by councillors". I have known a pompous chair insist on something being recorded verbatim in the minutes, which means that a carp others thought quite funny has been recorded for posterity. The recording of votes is supported by statute, as you probably know.

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There are certain things that must be recorded: Resolutions propose and seconded and if required recorded votes (names). Also declarations of Pecuniary/Prejudicial interests and those not attending for legitimate reasons. Minutes if including quotes by Councillors would have to apply to all and the minutes become very contentious. Since 2014 Councils can, and many do, record minutes by Audio (for instance) and publish them with the official minutes described above.

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Interesting.  I'm aware of several councils that record meetings to assist the clerks with the drafting of the minutes, indeed I am considering this for one of my councils.  But the recordings do not form part of the official record and are destroyed immediately thereafter.  Is the publication of audio becoming commonplace?  I haven't heard of anybody doing this yet.  I'm all for transparency, but in the case of a couple of my members, their words might be better unheard!

Answer 2

Yes, by making a statement and asking for it to be minuted in their name. To not do so would mean the minutes would not be an accurate summary of the meeting proceedings.

Comments

Many minutes say that " a member stated ........." This is bad practice as it takes away accountability and means the electorate would not  be aware if their cllr has been trying to contribute or not on particular discussions.

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Nailstone parish council minutes usually quote a members name against a comment or statement made.  You have to name proposer and seconder of minutes of the previous meetings.

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There is probably no provision in most Standing Orders to forbid the names of cllrs being quoted in respect of remarks or statement s they make.