Agenda and minutes

This report, in the opinion of the Proper Officer, contains exempt information under paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption, outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Background:

This exempt report provided details of a proposal to settle a claim against the Council. The report stated that the claimant had issued High Court proceedings against the Council which was subject to strict timescales.

The report noted that the urgency provisions were set out in the Constitution (paragraph 3.2 of Part 3 (Responsibility for Cabinet functions) of Chapter 3 (Responsibility for Functions) of the Constitution).

The Chairman of the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed that the taking of these decisions were urgent and could not be reasonably deferred until the next Cabinet meeting on 7 July 2020, in accordance with Section 11 (Cases of special urgency) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Meetings and Access to Information)(England) Regulations 2012 and Rule 17 (Special Urgency) of the Access to Information Rules (Part 2 of Chapter 4 in the Constitution).

Additionally, and in line with rule 15.11 of Chapter 4, Part 5 of the Constitution, call-in could be waived where any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the Public’s interests. The Chairman of the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed that the decisions proposed were reasonable in all the circumstances and to them being treated as a matter of urgency and to waive call-in.

Reasons:

This will act to mitigate the Council’s risk in this litigation.