Questions about town and parish councils
Follow Councillor Q&A on X/Twitter

Follow us on X/Twitter

0 votes
The notice of summons to Councillors to a forthcoming Extraordinary meeting of my local Town Council includes this: "Informal Meeting - [Date and time specified]. All Councillors welcome for an informal discussion on the background information to the Extraordinary meeting. There is no agenda, any issues of concern can be raised by Councillors." To be clear: this informal meeting is to be held a few days ahead of the Extraordinary meeting. And I might add that the public is being excluded from the Extraordinary meeting, using the Admissions to Meetings Act (Public Bodies) 1960, simply on the grounds that the business is 'confidential'.
What is the status of this 'Informal meeting'? Do the public have the right to attend? should it be minuted?
by (1.7k points)

2 Answers

0 votes
You are welcome to attend the so called "Informal" meeting even if it is (as I suspect) legally dubious.  . Everyone has a right to attend any Council meeting unless a notification of exclusion is provided.  As far as the "Informal  meeting" is concerned, with no summons or agenda I suspect legally that no resolutions  or decisions can be passed.  Furthermore if any Cllr has a poor attendance record, missing the  "Informal Meeting" would not count as a further instance of  non attendance.
by (34.9k points)
0 votes
If there is no agenda, how can the Council use the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act?
by (52.9k points)
There are 2 meetings: an Extraordinary meeting (which is using the Admissions to Meetings Act (Public Bodies) 1960 to make the business confidential), and before that an 'Informal meeting' which is to be 'an informal discussion on the background information to the Extraordinary meeting'. I'm interested in the status of the informal meeting.

Welcome to Town & Parish Councillor Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community. All genuine questions and answers are welcome. Follow us on Twitter to see the latest questions as they are asked - click on the image button above or follow @TownCouncilQA. Posts from new members may be delayed as we are unfortunately obliged to check each one for spam. Spammers will be blacklisted.

You may find the following links useful:

We have a privacy policy and a cookie policy.

Clares Cushions logo Peacock cushion

Clare's Cushions creates beautiful hand made cushions and home accessories from gorgeous comtemporary fabrics. We have a fantastic selection of prints including Sophie Allport and Orla Kiely designs and most covers can be ordered either alone or with a cushion inner. Buying new cushions is an affordable and effective way to update your home interior, they're also a great gift idea. Visit our site now

2,896 questions
5,619 answers
7,954 comments
10,028 users
Google Analytics Alternative