Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance (a) her Department has and (b) its predecessor Departments have issued to councils on including within their constitutions provision for public participation at council meetings.

We have been clear that it is not for Government to micromanage local authorities. We do not provide guidance on allowing public participation, such as deputations, at formal local authority meetings; it is for individual authorities to decide what public participation they may permit and to put in place procedures that work for them and their residents. In support of open and accountable local government, formal council meetings must be open to the public except in limited defined circumstances where legislation requires or allows the meeting to be closed to the public.