[F150A Admission to meetings of local authorities.S
(1)A meeting of a local authority shall be open to the public except to the extent that they are excluded (whether during the whole or part of the proceedings) under subsection (2) below or by resolution under subsection (4) below.
(2)The public shall be excluded from a meeting of a local authority during consideration of an item of business whenever it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that, if members of the public were present during consideration of that item, confidential information would be disclosed to them in breach of the obligation of confidence; and nothing in this Part shall be taken to authorise or require the disclosure of confidential information in breach of the obligation of confidence.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (2) above, “confidential information” means—
(a)information furnished to the authority by a Government department upon terms (however expressed) which forbid the disclosure of the information to the public; and
(b)information the disclosure of which to the public is prohibited by or under any enactment or by the order of a court;
and, in either case, the reference to the obligation of confidence is to be construed accordingly.
(4)A local authority may by resolution exclude the public from a meeting during consideration of an item of business whenever it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of that item of business there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as defined in section 50J below.
(5)A resolution under subsection (4) above shall—
(a)identify the proceedings, or the part of the proceedings, to which it applies; and
(b)state the description, in terms of Schedule 7A to this Act, of the exempt information giving rise to the exclusion of the public,
and where such a resolution is passed this section shall not require a meeting to be open to the public during proceedings to which the resolution applies.
(6)The following provisions shall apply in relation to a meeting of a local authority, that is to say—
(a)public notice of the time and place of the meeting shall be given by posting it at the offices of the authority three clear days at least before the meeting or, if the meeting is convened at shorter notice, then at the time it is convened;
(b)while the meeting is open to the public, the authority shall not have power to exclude members of the public from the meeting; and
(c)where the meeting is open to the public, duly accredited representatives of newspapers attending the meeting for the purpose of reporting the proceedings for those newspapers shall, so far as practicable, be afforded reasonable facilities for taking their report and, unless the meeting is held in premises not belonging to the authority or not connected to a public [F2electronic communications network, for transmitting the report by means of such a network] at their own expense.
(7)Nothing in this section shall require a local authority to permit the taking of photographs of any proceedings, or the use of any means to enable persons not present to see or hear any proceedings (whether at the time or later), or the making of any oral report on any proceedings as they take place.
(8)This section is without prejudice to any power of exclusion to suppress or prevent disorderly conduct or other misbehaviour at a meeting.]
Textual Amendments
F1Pt. IIIA (ss. 50A–50K) inserted by Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 (c. 43, SIF 81:1, 2), ss. 2(1), 3
F2Words in s. 50A(6)(c) substituted (17.9.2003) by The Communications Act 2003 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/2155), art. 3(1), Sch. 1 para. 8
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 50A applied (temp. from 6.4.1995 until 1.4.1996) by S.I. 1995/789, art. 2, Sch. para. 3