Is it lawful for a Council to require the public to declare if they are recording a meeting?

Question

My Parish Council has passed a resolution that means it will now be mandatory for the public to inform the Council whether they are making an recording. Is this legal for them to do so?

Many thanks for your replies.

Answer 1

No they can’t if you search this site you will see multiple references to this as recently as last week

Out of interest what do they propose to do if someone ignores them ? call the Police ?

I’d suggest someone follows the example shown on YouTube, just search for “Birstall Parish Council”
If someone does do this please download it to YouTube for us all to see

Answer 2

The current model standing orders differentiates between statutory requirements and rules over which a council may exercise discretion by the use of bold text for the statutory requirements. The right to record is shown in bold, as it is a statutory requirement in England (but not in Wales). The legislative reference is The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014.

If your parish council insists upon knowing whether or not somebody is recording, I would be inclined not to record that part of the meeting, which I presume takes place before the meeting starts, then change my mind a few minutes later. Standing orders would prevent me from interrupting the meeting to announce my intention to record, so I'd have to stay silent.

The alternative is for each member of the public to say "I may, or may not!"

Comments

Having been reported to both the Police and ICO for recording meetings I find it fascinating that even with such a clear cut law as this so many Parish Councils are prepared to break the law
My own PC acts as though laws are not binding  and because there’s little or no training most Councillors are blissfully unaware of what’s happening

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It's still far too common and I don't see the situation changing. All you can do is show the Clerk the legislation and hope that they take it on board.

Answer 3

A individual should declare if they are recording a meeting in case there are vulnerable individuals attending. Some one may not choose to speak if they know they are being recorded (for various reasons such as a speech impediment etc)

Comments

I would suggest not recording the first part of the meeting where Parishioners are invited to speak.

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It’s up to the Parish Council to warn members of the public both on the Agenda and at the start of the meeting so anyone recording the meeting has no need to declare they are

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Agreed we mark it on the Agenda that the Council may record the meeting under  The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014. Helps massively when holding Zoom meetings as I can clarify parts for the minutes and make sure I get it right.

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When recording a meeting audio only a member of the public stated they wanted the recording stopped when they spoke and the Clerk confirmed that that was a legal request and should be complied with and to switch the audio off when that member of the public spoke. Not sure if this is correct