Constitution - Access to information procedure rules

1. Scope 

Rules 2 to 11 apply to all meetings of:

• Council
• Overview and Scrutiny Committee (including formally constituted Task Groups)
• Audit and Standards Committee
• Regulatory Committees
• Cabinet and its committees

2. Additional rights to information 

These rules do not affect any more specific rights to information in this constitution or law. 

3. Rights of the public to attend meetings 

Anyone can come to the meetings, except in certain cases outlined in the rules.

4. Notices of meetings 

The council will give at least 5 days’ notice of any meeting by posting the meeting details at the Civic Centre and on its website. 

5. Access to agenda and reports before the meeting 

The council will add the agenda and any public reports to its website at least 5 days before the meeting.  

If any reports are written after the meeting invitation has been sent, these will added to the website as soon as they’re ready.

6. Supply of copies to the public 

The council will provide copies of the following documents, but there may be charges for postage and other costs:

• agendas and reports that are available to the public
• extra information that helps explain what the agenda items are about
• any other documents given to councillors about an agenda item, if appropriate

7. Public access to minutes after the meeting 

The council will keep the following available for 6 years after a meeting:

• the meeting minutes or a record of decisions, excluding any private or confidential information
• a summary of any parts of the meeting that were private, if the public minutes don’t give enough information
• the meeting agenda
• any reports discussed during the public part of the meeting

8. Background papers 

Every report will list any documents ('background papers') that were used to help write it. These include documents with important facts or that were heavily relied on, but not published books or anything private or confidential (as explained in rule 10).

Background papers are available for the public to view for 4 years after the meeting. For council meetings, they’ll be published on the council’s website. You can also get copies at the Civic Centre or by emailing committee@elmbridge.gov.uk.

9. Summary of rights of the public 

A written summary of the public’s rights to attend meetings, and to view and copy documents is available at the Civic Centre.

10. Exclusion of access by the public to meetings 

If a meeting is likely to reveal confidential information, the public must be excluded.

Confidential information is information the council is not allowed to share, either because a government department said so, a court ordered it or the law requires it to be kept private.

If a meeting might reveal exempt information, the council can choose to exclude the public. Exempt information is information the council can choose to keep private if it meets certain criteria. See the full procedures rules document for details:

When deciding whether to treat information as exempt, councillors will weigh up whether keeping it private is more important than the public’s right to know.

If the meeting is about someone’s legal rights or property, the law (Article 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998) says it should usually be held in public, unless there’s a good legal reason to keep it private.

11. Exclusion of access by the public to reports 

If the Proper Officer thinks it’s appropriate, the council can stop the public from seeing certain reports. This applies when the reports relate to parts of a meeting that are likely to be held in private, as explained in rule 10. These reports will be marked 'Not to be disclosed to Press or Public'.

12. Application of access to information rules to the Cabinet 

In addition to rules 2 to 11, rules 13 to 24 apply to the Cabinet and its committees.

13. Procedure before taking key decisions

Unless rules 15 or 16 apply, key decisions can’t be made unless:

• the decision has been listed in the Forward Plan at least 28 working days before it’s due to be made
• if the decision will be made at a Cabinet meeting or one of its committees, proper notice of the meeting has been given, as explained in rule 4

14. The Forward Plan 

The Leader creates a Forward Plan every month. Each plan covers the next 4 months. 

The Forward Plan includes items that the Leader expects will involve key decisions from the Cabinet, a Cabinet Committee, council officers or through joint arrangements during the next 4 months.

The plan will include, as far as possible:

• what the decision is about
• who will make the decision (and if it’s a group, their name and members)
• when the decision will be made 
• what documents will be used to help make the decision

The Forward Plan must be published at least 14 days before the start of the period it covers.

15. General exception key decisions 

If a key decision wasn’t included in the Forward Plan, it can still be made (unless it’s an urgent case covered by Rule 16) if:

• the decision needs to be made so soon that it’s not possible to wait for the next Forward Plan
• the Proper Officer has informed the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (or all its members if there’s no Chair) in writing about the decision
• a copy of this notice has been made available to the public at the council offices and published on the council’s website
• at least 5 clear working days have passed since the notice was made public

The Proper Officer must also publish a notice explaining why normal publicity wasn’t possible.

16. Special urgency 

If a Key Decision needs to be made so quickly and rule 15 can’t be followed, it can still go ahead if the Chair of the meeting (or their appointed representative) gets agreement from the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (or the vice-chair if the chair isn’t available) that the decision is urgent and can’t be delayed.

If neither the Chair nor Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is available, the Mayor or Deputy Mayor can give approval instead.

Once approval is given, the Proper Officer must publish a notice at the council offices and on the website explaining why the usual notice couldn’t be given.

More information on key decisions is available in the full document:

17. Report to Council 

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee can require the Cabinet to submit a report to the Council if the committee believes a key decision was made that either:

• wasn’t listed in the Forward Plan
• didn’t follow the general exception process
• wasn’t approved as urgent under rule 16

The committee will set a reasonable deadline for this.

The Proper Officer also has this power. They must request the report if asked by any of the following:

• the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• any 5 councillors
• if the committee passes a resolution at one of its meetings

More information on reports to council is included in the full document:

18. Record of decisions 

After any Cabinet meeting — whether public or private — a record of the decisions made must be written by the Proper Officer or the person leading the meeting.

This record will include:

• the reasons for each decision
• any other options that were considered and rejected
• any conflicts of interest declared by Cabinet Members or others involved in the decision

If a conflict of interest was declared, the record must also note any special permission (dispensation) that was granted by the Head of Paid Service.

19. Cabinet meetings 

All Cabinet meetings must follow the rules set out in the 2012 regulations on public access to information and attendance at meetings of local government.

20. Procedures prior to private meetings of the Cabinet 

A private Cabinet meeting is one where the public is not allowed to attend because confidential or sensitive information may be discussed.

To hold a private meeting:

• the council must publish a notice on its website at least 28 days in advance, explaining why the meeting will be private
• a second notice must be published at least 5 days before the meeting. This must include:
  • any comments received about the decision to hold the meeting in private
  • the council’s response to those comments

If it’s not possible to give advance notice (for example, due to urgency), the meeting can only go ahead in private if the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agrees it’s urgent and cannot be delayed.  If the Chair is unavailable, the Mayor or Deputy Mayor must give their agreement instead.

In these cases, a notice explaining why the meeting is urgent and couldn’t be postponed must be published on the council’s website.

21. Attendance at private meetings of the Cabinet

All Cabinet Members must be notified about any private meetings of Cabinet Committees — even if they’re not part of that Committee. They’re also allowed to attend those meetings.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee and its Sub-Committees must receive the same notice and agenda about private meetings at the same time as Cabinet Members.

If a topic being discussed at a private meeting falls under the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or its sub-committees, any member of those groups may attend and speak, but only if the person leading the meeting and everyone present agrees.

The Chief Executive, Chief Finance Officer, Monitoring Officer, and their nominees have the right to attend any Cabinet or Committee meeting.

Cabinet meetings can’t happen unless the Proper Officer has been given reasonable notice.

A private Cabinet meeting can only take place if the Proper Officer (or their nominee) is present to record and publish the decisions made.

22. Overview and Scrutiny Committee access to documents 

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee (and its sub-committees) can ask for copies of any documents held by the Cabinet or its committees, if the documents relate to business discussed at a public or private Cabinet meeting.

However, they can’t request documents that are still in draft form.

23. Additional rights of access for Members 

All councillors can view any documents held by the Cabinet or its committees that relate to business discussed at a private meeting in the past.

All councillors can also see any documents (except drafts) that relate to Key Decisions.

24. Proper Officer 

In these rules, the 'Proper Officer' means the Chief Executive or their nominated officer.

More information

To learn more about procedure rules see the full document: