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Routine Executive Committee Meetings
A Freedom of Information request to Cambridge City Council by Richard Taylor
The request was rejected by Cambridge City Council.
Richard Taylor
1 February 2009
In October 2008 while answering questions on Cambridge City Council
investments the council leader told the North Area Committee that
he had discussed the matter at an early morning meeting of the
council's executive, and that such meetings are held weekly.
During the December 2008 full council meeting the council leader
stated that all meetings of the council's executive were public
meetings, and he invited opposition councillors to attend and speak
at them.
However only one or two apparently special meetings of the City
Council's executive per year are listed on the council's meetings
list and have their times, locations, agendas, reports and minutes
made public in that way.
Could you please let me know if there are additional routine
meetings of the City Council's executive which do not make that
list.
If there are such meetings could you please release the time, date
and location of upcoming meetings which have been scheduled, and
release the agendas, reports and minutes of those meetings held so
far in 2009.
I would like to suggest such information is made accessible and
kept up to date on the City Council's website.
Many thanks,
--
Richard Taylor
Cambridge
http://www.rtaylor.co.uk
Gary Clift
Cambridge City Council
9 February 2009
Dear Mr Taylor
I acknowledge receipt of your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In accordance with the Act we will send you the information within 20 working days i.e. by 27/2/09 at the latest.
Gary Clift
Democratic Services Manager
01223 457011
show quoted sections
Gary Clift
Cambridge City Council
2 March 2009
Dear Mr Taylor
Please see attached answer to your FOI request.
Regards
Gary Clift
Democratic Services Manager
01223 457011
show quoted sections
Richard Taylor
2 March 2009
Mr Clift,
Many thanks for your reply to my request for information about
routine meetings of Cambridge City Council's Executive.
My request asked about the times, dates and locations of these
meetings. You have confirmed the existence of a regular set of
meetings between the Executive Councillors and the Council's senior
management team, however you have not let me know how frequent
these are or how well attended by executive councillors they have
been this year.
You have provided a justification for refusal to supply details of
discussions, as you consider their release “likely to inhibit the
free and frank provision of advice or free and frank exchange of
views for the purpose of deliberation.” I understand that point of
view but cannot see how this exemption can be applied to the times,
dates and locations of the meetings or to all information in the
meeting papers such as who attended and what was on the agenda. I
consider this in the public interest as the release of this
information will assist the public judge the attendance record of
executive councillors and let the electorate know where they are
focusing their efforts.
I note that my request, made on the 1st of February 2009, requested
information on meetings held so far in 2009 only, this was intended
to make the request minimally onerous for council officers.
An informative reply might take the straight-forward form:
"Executive Councillors routinely meet the council's senior
management team at 8am on Thursday mornings. There were X such
meetings in January 2009 which were attended by all Executive
Councillors. Agenda items discussed were as follows..."
Could you please reconsider the decision not to release even the
times, dates, locations and attendance of routine meetings of the
Executive.
Many thanks,
--
Richard Taylor
Cambridge
http://www.rtaylor.co.uk
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
Richard Taylor left an annotation (2 March 2009)
"
The Minutes and agendas of these meetings could not be supplied because they are covered by the exemptions in section 36 (2) (b) (i) and (ii) of the Act “likely to inhibit the free and frank provision of advice or free and frank exchange of views for the purpose of deliberation.” This exemption is subject to a public interest test.
The Council's Monitoring Officer has considered the public interest test and has decided that the public interest lies in withholding the information under exemptions 36 (2) (b) (i) and (ii) because there should be an opportunity for the Executive to receive private advice on future options from the Council's senior managers and disclosure of such information which reveals internal thinking processes may be detrimental to the ultimate quality of either policy-making and may lead to less candid and robust discussions in future. "
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