I am writing a couple more guides on covering council meetings over the next couple of weeks, unless of course you have any you want to share with us?

This guide I wrote a while back might also be useful.

Major recommendations and decisions are taken at meetings of council committees and are the best way of keeping up to date with what a council is doing. These must be open to the press and public, though they can be excluded in some circumstances, for example when commercial information is to be discussed. Agendas are published ahead of the meeting on a council’s website and will provide a wealth of information, some of which will not be referred to in the meeting. Attending the meeting will provide colourful quotes from debates though stories can be based on agendas alone if attendance is not possible. A record of the meeting, its minutes, will be published after it has taken place, but will only include basic details, though some provide video or audio recordings of the meeting. These should go on the council’s website.

The following committees are found in most councils:

Cabinet: this is the ‘ruling’ committee of the council and will include about eight councillors. It can take some decisions and make recommendations to put to council for a final decision (see below). If one political party has a majority of councillors then cabinet recommendations are almost certain to be passed at council as councillors are told how to vote by the council leader (‘whipped’). Attending these meetings is often a reporter’s first chance to find out about a major new council policy, for example raising charges in council-run car parks.

Council: this is the meeting of all councillors. The council takes key decisions and is the opportunity for the opposition to question the party in control. There is usually also an alloted time for members of the public to ask questions. These meetings are not to be missed and happen about once every two months.

Planning: sometimes called ‘development control’, the planning committee has to make decisions on major planning applications, a process most building developments have to go through to go ahead, for example a supermarket or football stadium. Only contentious planning applications will be decided by the committee, about 10 per cent of all applications received. Others are decided in private by officers or senior councillors (see planning).

Scrutiny: broadly referred to as ‘watchdog’ committees these scrutinise the work of the council and other public bodies and provide recommendations for the future. This can include detailed investigations into contentious issues e.g. gritting, and will comprise councillors from all parties. It can ‘call in’ decisions to scrutinise. These are often called ‘overview and scrutiny’ committees. Other names include ‘improvement and review’ committees.

Licensing: councils are responsible for permitting or decling a range of trades, from taxis to strip clubs. One licensing committee will look at broad policies and another will consider specific cases, usually applications for a licence or punishment for breaches. These provide an excellent source of stories.

Standards: the standards committee will consider policy about regulating councillors’ behavoiur and specific complaints against councillors. Some information may not be disclosed to the public under local government laws.

Other committees: other committees vary between councils, from committees to advise on school, footpaths and conservation matters. All meetings of councils are worthy of investigation.

Decisions:

Cabinet members can take decisions outside of committees. These must be published in written form via the council’s website.