Please can you supply me with the following information about items considered under Part B (Press and Public excluded) at meetings of the council:

1. Are the specific reasons as to why the information is exempt stated in the Agenda for the meeting?
Yes; the report contains information on why a particular report, or part of a report is exempt.

2.
a) Is the Part B of the meeting fully minuted and the full minute agreed in Part B of a future meeting?
No the items are not minuted.

b) If not, how is the Part B minuted?
A brief non-exempt explanation is included in the formal minutes which includes the recommendations that were agreed.

3. Are all or some papers considered under Part B routinely reviewed at a later date to establish whether the reason for their exemption remains valid, or whether the passage of time has resulted in the public interest in their publication out weighing the reason for which they were originally exempted?
No, currently the papers are not routinely reviewed. If information in relation to an exempt report was requested, each application would be considered on its own merits and a determination would be made as to whether or not all or any of that information could be disclosed.

4. If only some items are routinely reviewed, what is the policy as to which items should be reviewed?
Not applicable / see above.

5. When it is established that the exempt paperwork or record relating to a Part B meeting is appropriate for total or partial publication, either as a result of routine review or because it has been supplied in reply to a Freedom of Information request, is that paperwork then published on the council’s website alongside the other paperwork for the relevant meeting?
Only if requested to do so, however, responses to Freedom of Information requests are published on the Disclosure Log on the Councils website so if the information has been requested down that route and released then there would be a publicly accessible version available.

6. Has the council ever reviewed its policy on Part B papers in one of the council’s public meetings?
No. The constitution is reviewed annually.