I would be grateful to see the minutes of the Governance Working Group meeting held on 9 September 2025.
Please find a copy of the agenda for the Governance Working Group on 9 September 2025 here.
In relation to the notes, we can confirm that notes of the meeting are held but that we consider that they are exempt from disclosure under Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as their release would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of Public Affairs. The notes of the meeting are working notes for draft policies and processes and are subject to change. The County Council’s qualified person has confirmed the engagement of this exemption. In doing so they have considered that releasing these notes would inhibit free and frank discussions and therefore prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. Having considered the public interest in the disclosure of the notes, they consider that it is not in the public interest to disclose the notes as the positions of members could change and members would be less likely to be open and frank in their deliberations if disclosed. The public interest test is further weighted in non-disclosure, in that any items which are likely to form any future policy are discussed within the formal council settings, for which publicly accessible minutes are available.
We would also consider that the notes are exempt under Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Information intended for future publication) as policies and constitutional changes following the Governance Working Group completing their recommendation are taken to public meetings, such as the procedures committee and full council, and are available and published on our website (Procedures or Full Council).
Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 affords a duty to provide advice and assistance to requesters, and therefore we are providing a copy of the Agenda of the Governance group from 9th September 2025 so that you can review the issues raised, and track their formal minuted discussion when they appear on our website.