Signing inaccurate minutes

Question

Somewhere I have read that if a Parish Council Chairman doesn’t agree that the draft minutes, which are agreed by a majority of councillors, he should sign them but add a comment. I’ve read this in official guidance somewhere but I can’t find it again. Help.

This has arisen because our council made a mistake. The council has some land and we thought the tenancy was coming to an end. Councillors proposed, seconded and voted to issue a new tenancy for three years. It later transpired that the existing tenancy could be rolled forward if the tenant and council agree to it. A majority of councillors have voted to change the minutes to say that the resolution was to roll the tenancy forward.

On this occasion it probably not going to make much difference but I think this is an important principle, namely that the minutes should be an accurate record of the decisions of the council and shouldn’t be changed.

Answer 1

Standing Order 12d of the current model covers the procedure by which the Chairman may indicate that he believes the minutes not to be a correct record of the business of the meeting, however in the situation you have outlined, the issue relates to the decision itself, not the recording of the decision. The minutes should be signed as a correct record of the proceedings, but you should then, at the earliest opportunity, pass a motion to correct the previous decision. Standing Order 7a covers amendments to previous resolutions.

Comments

Many thanks DavetheClerk
I knew I had read it somewhere and I feel a bit of a fool that it is our Standing Orders that I should be familiar with.
Your advice re 7a is welcome and will be used.
Thanks again.

David