In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, Councillor Christopher Barrass to propose, and Councillor Tim Anderson to second, the following motion:
“This Council believes that we are yet to make good on promises made to the Electorate to be more open and transparent in all of our actions.
By not doing so we may miss great ideas by not keeping all Councillors aware of the latest developments with their input coming too late in the creation of policy.
We must reaffirm a position where all committee reports are made public unless there are unequivocal legal or commercial reasons to the contrary.
The Council therefore resolves:
(1) That all restricted committee reports must clearly and precisely state all of the following:
(a) Why the content is to be treated as exempt from the Access to Information publication rules.
(b) To whom within the Council the content is restricted
(c) When, following a period of exemption, the exempt information can be expected to be made public.
(d) The basis for the exemption should be made public at the point the agenda is published, together with details of how the decision to maintain the exemption may be challenged.
(2) That all working group reports should be made available to all Councillors. For example, information about Major Projects, the Supplementary Planning Documents needed to complete the Local Plan, and also the concrete actions to further our climate change agenda are often kept to relatively small working groups.”
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, Councillor Christopher Barrass proposed, and Councillor Jan Harwood seconded, the adoption of the following motion:
“This Council believes that we are yet to make good on promises made to the Electorate to be more open and transparent in all of our actions.
By not doing so we may miss great ideas by not keeping all Councillors aware of the latest developments with their input coming too late in the creation of policy.
We must reaffirm a position where all committee reports are made public unless there are unequivocal legal or commercial reasons to the contrary.
The Council therefore resolves:
(1) That all restricted committee reports must clearly and precisely state all of the following:
(a) Why the content is to be treated as exempt from the Access to Information publication rules.
(b) To whom within the Council the content is restricted
(c) When, following a period of exemption, the exempt information can be expected to be made public.
(d) The basis for the exemption should be made public at the point the agenda is published, together with details of how the decision to maintain the exemption may be challenged.
(2) That all working group reports should be made available to all Councillors. For example, information about Major Projects, the Supplementary Planning Documents needed to complete the Local Plan, and also the concrete actions to further our climate change agenda are often kept to relatively small working groups.”
Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (o), CouncillorBarrass as the mover of the original motion, indicated that, with the consent of his seconder and of the meeting, he wished to alter his motion by incorporating amendments shown in red text indicated below:
“This Council believes that we are yet to make good on promises made to the Electorate to be more open and transparent in all of our actions.
By not doing so we may miss great ideas by not keeping all Councillors aware of the latest developments with their input coming too late in the creation of policy. For example, information about Major Projects, the Supplementary Planning Documents needed to complete the Local Plan, and also the concrete actions to further our climate change agenda are often kept to relatively small working groups.
We must reaffirm a position where all committee reports
are made public unless there are
unequivocal legal or commercial reasons to the
contrary.
The Council therefore resolves:
(1) To reaffirm, and adopt as best practice, the position that all committee reports are made public unless there are unequivocal legal or commercial reasons to the contrary and that where practicable, information within a report which is legally exempt from publication should be isolated from the body of the report as a restricted appendix, with the remainder of the report made available to the public.
(2) To require that all restricted committee reports clearly and precisely state at the point the agenda is published all of the following:
(a) Why the content is to be treated as exempt from the Access to Information publication rules.
(b) To whom within the Council the content is restricted
(c) When, following a period of exemption, the exempt information can be expected to be made public.
(d) The basis for the exemption should
be made public at the point the agenda is published,
together withDetails of how the decision
to maintain the exemption may be challenged.
(3)
That all working group reports should be made available to all
councillors, subject where necessary to
redaction of exempt information (on the advice of officers, and in
consultation with the relevant lead councillor).
For example, information about Major
Projects, the Supplementary Planning Documents needed to complete
the Local Plan, and also the concrete
actions to further our climate change agenda are often kept to
relatively small working groups.
(4) To request the Managing Director to establish, in consultation with the chairman of the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee, a working group comprising representatives of all political groups and officers, to:
(a) examine the effectiveness of internal communications, between officers and councillors, in respect of, for example, progress with the formulation of development plan documents, major projects, and climate change initiatives,
(b) make proposals to promote transparency, and promote effective communications and reporting, and
(c) report back its findings to full Council.”
The Council agreed to accept the alteration to the original motion, as indicated above. The motion, as altered, therefore became the substantive motion for debate.
Having debated the substantive motion, the Council
RESOLVED:
(1) To reaffirm, and adopt as best practice, the position that all committee reports are made public unless there are unequivocal legal or commercial reasons to the contrary and that where practicable, information within a report which is legally exempt from publication should be isolated from the body of the report as a restricted appendix, with the remainder of the report made available to the public.
(2) To require that all restricted committee reports clearly and precisely state at the point the agenda is published all of the following:
(a) Why the content is to be treated as exempt from the Access to Information publication rules.
(b) To whom within the Council the content is restricted
(c) When, following a period of exemption, the exempt information can be expected to be made public.
(d) Details of how the decision to maintain the exemption may be challenged.
(3) That all working group reports should be made available to all councillors, subject where necessary to redaction of exempt information (on the advice of officers, and in consultation with the relevant lead councillor).
(4) To request the Managing Director to establish, in consultation with the chairman of the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee, a working group comprising representatives of all political groups and officers, to:
(a) examine the effectiveness of internal communications, between officers and councillors, in respect of, for example, progress with the formulation of development plan documents, major projects, and climate change initiatives,
(b) make proposals to promote transparency, and promote effective communications and reporting, and
(c) report back its findings to full Council.