Constitution Part 4 - Access to information procedure rules

For the purpose of the Access to Information Procedure Rules, the Proper Officer is the Director of Legal, Governance and Human Resources.

1. Scope

These rules apply to all meetings of the Council, its Committees and Sub-Committees (together called ‘meetings’). They summarise the public’s right to attend meetings and to inspect and be supplied with copies of documents, full particulars of which are contained within Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended.

2. Additional Rights to Information

These rules do not affect any other rights to information contained elsewhere in this Constitution or within the law.

3. Rights to Attend, Film and Record Meetings

Members of the public may attend all meetings subject only to the exceptions in these rules. Members of the public and media may take photographs, film, audio-record or report via social media the proceedings of any meeting of the Council and its Committees where the meeting is open to the public. Any person whose recording activities are disruptive to the meeting may be required by the Chair to stop recording and may be removed from the meeting (Please see also Part 5, Protocol on Filming, Recording and Photographing Meetings.)

4. Notice of meeting

The Council will give at least five clear working days notice of any meeting by posting details of the meeting at the Civic Centre, Victoria Road, Hartlepool, the designated office.

5. Access to Agenda and Reports before the meeting

The Council will make copies of the agenda and reports available for inspection at the Civic Centre other than those matters which contain confidential or exempt information at least five clear working days before the meeting. If an item is added to the agenda later, the revised agenda will be open to inspection from the time the item was added to the agenda. Where a report is prepared after the summons has been sent out, the Proper Officer shall make the report available to the public as soon as the report is completed and sent to Elected Members.

All agendas, reports and minutes (which do not contain exempt information) of Council and Committee meetings are available on Hartlepool Borough Council’s website as soon as practicable after publication. 

6. Supply of copies

The Council will supply copies of:

  • any agenda and reports which are open to public inspection;
  • any further statements or particulars necessary to indicate the nature of the items in the agenda; and
  • if the proper officer thinks fit, copies of any other documents supplied to Elected Members in connection with an item; to any person on payment of a charge for postage and any other costs.

7. Access to minutes etc after the meeting

The Council will make available copies of the following for six years after a meeting:

  • the minutes of the meeting or records of decisions taken, in accordance with statutory requirements, excluding any part of the minutes of proceedings when the meeting was not open to the public or which disclose exempt or confidential information;
  • a summary of any proceedings not open to the public where the minutes open to inspection would not provide a reasonably fair and coherent record;
  • the agenda for the meeting; and
  • reports relating to items when the meeting was open to the public.

8. Listing of background papers

The report writer will set out in every report a list of those documents (called background papers) relating to the subject matter of the report which in his/her opinion:

  • disclose any facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the report is based; and
  • which have been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report

but does not include published works or those which disclose exempt or confidential information (as defined in rules 11 to 14).

9. Public inspection of background papers

The Council will make available for public inspection for four years after the date of the meeting one copy of each of the documents on the list of background papers (subject to copyright of any person other than the Council) and supply a copy or an extract on payment of such copying fee as may be required. 

10. Summary of public’s rights  

A written summary of the public’s rights to attend meetings and to inspect and copy documents must be kept and be available to the public at the Civic Centre, Victoria Road, Hartlepool.

11. Confidential information – Exclusion of access by the public to meetings

The public must be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that confidential information would be disclosed.

12. Meaning of confidential information

Confidential information means information given to the Council by a Government department on terms which forbid its public disclosure or information which cannot be publicly disclosed because of a Court order.

13. Exempt information – Exclusion of access by the public to meetings

The public may be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that exempt information would be disclosed.

Where the meeting will determine any person’s civil rights or obligations, or adversely affect their possessions, Article 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 establishes a presumption that the meeting will be held in public unless a private hearing is necessary for one of the reasons specified in Article 6 of the Act.  This includes cases where exclusion of the public is considered to be necessary for the protection of the private life of the parties. 

14. Meaning of exempt information

Exempt information means information falling within the following categories (subject to any condition). 

  1. Information relating to any individual
  2. Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual
  3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)
  4. Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matters arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.
  5. Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.
  6. Information which reveals that the authority proposes
    1. (a) to give under any enactment a notice under or by virtue of which requirements are imposed on a person; or  
    2. (b) to make an order or direction under any enactment.
  7. Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.
  8. Information falling within paragraph 1 adjacent is not exempt information by virtue of that paragraph if it is required to be registered under
    1. (a) the Companies Act 2006
    2. (b) the Friendly Societies Acts 1974 and 1992
    3. (c) the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978
    4. (d) the Building Societies Act 1986; or
    5. (e) the Charities Act 2011.
  9. Information is not exempt within any category of information if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992.
  10. Information which –  
    1. (a) falls within any of paragraphs 1 to 7 adjacent; and
    2. (b) is not prevented from being exempt by virtue of paragraph 8 or 9 above,

is exempt information if and so long, as in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

15. Exclusion of access by the public to reports

If the proper officer thinks fit, the Council may exclude access by the public to reports which in his or her opinion relate to items during which, in accordance with rules 11 to 14, the meeting is likely not to be open to the public.  Such reports will be marked "Not for Publication" together with the category of information likely to be disclosed. 

16. Application of rules to Policy Committees

All meetings of the Policy Committees or Sub-Committees must comply with Rules 1 to 15.

Meetings of the Policy Committees or Sub-Committees will be held in public unless exempt or confidential information would be disclosed.  Members of the public attending meetings of the Council’s Policy Committees or Sub-Committees may speak at the discretion of the Chair of the Committee or a Sub-Committee.  (NB: separate public speaking rights apply in the case of the Council’s regulatory and other Committees.)

17. Procedure before taking key decisions

A key decision is a decision which falls within one or more of the following categories:

  • (i) any decision which is financially significant because it will result in income, expenditure or savings with a gross full year effect of £100,000 or greater;

or

  • (ii) any decision which the originator of the report, in consultation with his or her Chief Officer, believes may have a significant impact on communities living or working in an area comprising two or more wards.

Where the decision is to be taken at a meeting of a Policy Committee or SubCommittee, notice of the meeting must been given in accordance with Rule 4 (notice of meetings). 

18. Record of decisions

After any meeting of Full Council, a Committee or Sub-Committee, whether held in public or private, the Proper Officer will produce a record of every decision taken at that meeting as soon as practicable. The record will include a statement of the reasons for each decision and details of any alternative options considered and rejected at that meeting. A record of a key decision taken by an Officer will also be reported to a subsequent meeting of the relevant Policy Committee.

19. Access to documents – Discharge of Statutory Scrutiny Functions

Subject to rule 25 below, the Audit and Governance Committee in the exercise of the statutory scrutiny functions (including any of its Sub-Committees) will be entitled to copies of any document which is in the possession or control of the Authority which contain material directly relating to: 

  • i) any business transacted at a meeting of the Council or its Committees; or
  • ii) any key decision that has been made by an officer under delegated authority. 

20. Limits on rights of access to documents

The Audit and Governance Committee in the exercise of its statutory scrutiny functions will not be entitled to:

  • i) any document that is in draft form; or
  • ii) any part of a document that contains exempt or confidential information, unless that information is directly relevant to:
    • an action or decision they are reviewing or scrutinising; or
    • any review contained in any programme of work of such a Committee or Sub-Committee of such Committee; or
  • iii) the advice of a political adviser.

21. Additional rights of access for Elected Members - material relating to previous business

Elected Members may in certain circumstances, subject to the advice of the Monitoring Officer, be able to inspect a wider range of documents on a confidential basis if it is shown by the Elected Member to be necessary in the proper discharge of their role as an Elected Member.

Elected Members will be entitled to request the provision of exempt information reports relating to key decisions that are non urgent in order to determine whether or not Council Procedure Rule 25 (Reference to Council) should be exercised.

22. Nature of rights

The rights of an Elected Member to access to documents and information are additional to any other right he/she may have.