Letter: More Should Be Kept Public in Council Meetings

Published on: 22 Jan, 2026
Updated on: 22 Jan, 2026

From Bernard Quoroll

former local authority CEO

Good councils routinely write their reports so that as much as possible is accessible to the public, only excluding the press and public on specific, strictly confidential elements.

After reading the press report, I watched the recording, which was only available later as there were technical difficulties on the night.

It appears from the website that there was an agenda available for members but it was not published with the recording, so the casual observer might have had some difficulty in understanding whether the item was even coming up for consideration.

The item itself, was headed somewhat arcanely “Review of historic EICR and Whole House Works” – hardly adequate to indicate that a controversial item of such importance was coming up.

The agenda item did indicate that that there was an exempt item to be considered but in a standard format which appears to be used routinely for all exempt items on all committees. Only at the meeting did the monitoring officer give reasons in public specifically relevant to the matter being reported on, but in fairness, I found them convincing enough.

However no one challenged her advice in public or questioned the way the report had been put together, so the comments reported by The Dragon must have been made during the meeting itself and after the cameras had been turned off.

It is reported that during the meeting, this lack of transparency was challenged by some members but the resolution to exclude had already been passed. It also appears that a suggestion was made by the Monitoring Officer to read out the decisions made on the night when the committee reconvened, but this was apparently overruled by the chair. That advice was good practice and could have been put as a motion by any member of the committee but no one did.

All of this is in stark contrast to a meeting in January last year (2025) when the same subject matter was reported upon at length and almost entirely in public, notwithstanding the risks and after Leading Counsel’s opinion had been obtained.

If seems to me that the officers did the right thing this time but that councillors fell back into bad habits, perhaps not deliberately but by failing to adhere to the spirit of openness which we are now so frequently reminded is their watchword.

I do hope they do better when this matter comes back before a committee next time. There is also scope to “tweak” the way in which exempt items are included on agendas to make them more accessible.