Our ref
491690 (Complaint ground: 491692)
Contact
Tim Noonan
23 January 2019
Dr Lloyd Jerome
By email:
[FYI request #9124 email]
Dear Dr Jerome
I refer to your correspondence of 26 November 2018 in which you enquire as to whether ‘
local
council executive meetings are minuited’ and if you can request those minutes under the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
Part 7 of LGOIMA provides, among other things, a right for the public to inspect or receive copies
of minutes of local authority meetings. This right, however, applies only to the specific kinds of
meetings listed
in section 45(1) of the Act. Unless it is one of those categories of meeting, it is
outside the Part 7 framework.
In addition, a local authority is under a statutory obligation to create and maintain any records
that are declared by the Chief Archivist to be a ‘protected record’
(section 17(3) an
d section 40 of
the Public Records Act 2005 refer). The Chief Archivist has published a
‘List of protected records
for local authorities’ which states that ‘protected records’ includes, among other things, ‘
all
agenda, minutes and papers of meetings of the senior/executive management team’.
As you may be aware, if such a meeting record document exists, it can be requested by someone
under the LGOIMA. Furthermore, you are open to make a request for information relating to an
otherwise undocumented meeting, including any contemporaneous notes that have been made,
or any emails that have been sent before or after the meeting clarifying or confirming points that
were discussed.
I trust that you have found this information helpful.
Yours sincerely
Scott Martin
Manager - Intake and Early Assistance Team