PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND MINUTES

Question

When residents speak at the beginning of each meeting the contents are sometimes critical of the Councils performance,  yet the minutes seldom contain details of the presentation.. They would typically say a "resident spoke about his concerns on x subject".  Does a resident have the right to challenge the  draft minutes and request that the minutes be "more detailed"

Answer 1

No. The minutes must record all decisions made by the Council, but are not intended to be a verbatim record of the proceedings. It is for the Clerk to decide the level of detail to be included, usually in consultation with the Chairman.

Answer 2

As DtC states, minutes are a record of the decisions made.  If the resident wanted to formally complain about the council, they would need to do so via the complaints policy.  They could also record the meeting if they wished in order to support their complaint.
What is interesting is confusion about the involvement of the public in council meetings.  These meetings are not public meetings but meetings in public and they are invited to speak rather than having a right to speak.  So they need to follow the complaints procedure when criticising the actions of the council.

Comments

My understanding is that appropriate reference is made in the standing orders then public participation is an entitlement

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Only on items on the agenda.  Not on items that aren't listed.

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Oh yes they are if the "business of the agenda" has been deleted in the SO. Personally I don't see why they should be restricted to items on the agenda and would congratulate my PC for their approach.