Your right to attend meetings and inspect documents
We are committed to carrying out our business in an open and transparent manner. We also welcome the interest of the public and the media in the business of both the council and the city as a whole. This document is provided in order to make clear the public’s right to attend meetings, and to view associated documents.
Public attendance at meetings
Meetings of the Council, its committees, the Executive, and any Executive committees are open to public attendance, and will be publicly advertised five clear working days in advance of the meeting whenever possible. The Council will seek to provide a suitable venue for each meeting, and may change a meeting from its usual venue in order to provide additional seating capacity or an otherwise more suitable venue.
The chair of the meeting will have the authority to ensure orderly conduct. If any persons attending the meeting disrupt its proceedings, it will be possible either to suspend proceedings or to exclude those persons from the meeting.
It will sometimes be necessary to exclude the press and public from proceedings in the event that confidential or exempt information is likely to be disclosed. The Council will usually give at least 28 clear days’ notice of any Executive meeting at which the public may be excluded. Any notice will be published in the Executive Work Programme and indicate the item to be discussed, the reason for it being discussed in private, and invite public representations to be made with regard to it.
Your right to documents
Any agendas, reports, and minutes associated with the public meetings outlined above will be made available at City Hall and on the Council’s website. Members of the public also have additional rights to inspect information relating to the business of the Council, its councillors, and committees. If you have any enquiries regarding these rights, please feel free to contact Democratic Services using the contact information to the right of this page.