The purpose of the minutes is to record the business and decisions separately for each of the committees. A minute will be taken by the Committee Services Officer at all committee meetings, public or private, which are formal proceedings of the Council.
A set of minutes will be produced by the Committee Services Officer for every meeting of the committee, public or private, at the conclusion of the meeting. The minutes will be published in electronic and paper form, with the electronic being e-mailed (in draft if need be) at the earliest opportunity.
The minutes of proceedings are the formal record of a meeting and will record committee attendance, decisions and other information specified in below.
Minutes will record every item of business and where possible follow the agenda order. Each substantive item should be numbered separately.
Committee minutes will record the following:-
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Date of the meeting (this should not be a numbered item) |
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| Venue (this should not be a numbered item) | |
| Names of committee members present for any part of the meeting, the convener to be identified, thus (Name) (Chair). | |
| Other member present and taking part. | |
| Designations of Officers in attendance at the meeting. Designation of the Committee Services Officer and job title ‘Clerk to the Committee’. | |
| Names and status of other parties present, for example Scottish ministers, witnesses, expert advisers to the committee. | |
| Apologies | |
| Name of the member chairing the meeting if the Chair is not present. |
Decisions including:
| Adjournment of Meeting (including reason and time of the adjournment and the date, time and re-commencement of the meeting) | |
| Votes | |
| Voting results should appear in list format. The committee will "vote" and the result will be recorded as follows - | |
| Motion (number of votes), Amendment (Number of votes), Abstentions (Number of votes). Votes are taken by roll call. |
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Minute headings should be consistent in usage for regularly recurring items of business for example - |
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| Chair - for appointment, elections, announcements about etc. | |
| Main Heading/Sub-Heading - general debate headings | |
| Report - Consideration/Adoption |
| Exclusion of members from committee (but not the reason for the exclusion). |
Within two working days of a meeting, the Committee Services Officer will arrange for the preparation and circulation to appropriate Officers an "Action Sheet" detailing the decisions reached at the meeting, the officer(s) responsible for their implementation and the timescale involved, if appropriate.
The Committee Services Officer will arrange for the preparation and circulation to appropriate Officers a draft minutes of proceedings within 5 working days following the meeting.
Any comments subsequently received will be taken into account by the Committee Services Officer who shall make such amendments as are considered appropriate.
The final Draft minute is then proof read by the Principal Committee Services Officer.
The Committee Services Officer will submit the finalised version of the Minute for inclusion on the Agenda of the next meeting of the Full Council for approval. Any amendments made by the Full Council shall be recorded and the Minute amended accordingly.
The Principal Committee Services Officer will ensure that copies of the Minutes as approved are signed by the Chairman
The Principal Committee Services Officer will arrange for the inclusion of advisory decisions taken by any Committee, in the Agenda produced for the next appropriate meeting of the Committee/Full Council to whom the recommendation is addressed.
Correspondence and decisions arising from the decisions taken by the Full Council or a Committee acting under delegated powers will commence within ten working days from the date of the meeting by the Officer designated as being responsible for implementing each decision as detailed in the Action Sheet. Where a Committee decision requires the approval of the Full Council, the period of ten days shall run from the date of the Full Council's approval.
Directors/Head of Services are responsible for ensuring that they action those matters which the Action Sheet lists as falling to them to implement and that within ten working days from the date of the meeting as detailed above. Where they either cannot do so or there is another apparent good reason for not doing so they shall consult with the Chief Executive and if appropriate advise the next meeting of the Committee or the Full Council as to why the decision has not been implemented.