Adopted by Council – 4 September 2019
Reviewed & Adopted – 19 January 2022

Reviewed & Adopted – 28 May 2025

1. Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014

1.1. The right to record, film and to broadcast meetings of Gainsborough Town Council meetings, its committees, sub committees has been established following the creation of the Local Government Audit and Accountability Act 2014, and the subsequent introduction of the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 on 6 August 2014.

1.2 This is in addition to the rights of the press and public to attend such meetings.

1.3. Gainsborough Town Council is committed to being open and transparent in the way it conducts its decision making. For the purpose of this policy the term “record” means any form of audio, visual or electronic recording. Such recording is permitted under the lawful direction of the council.

1.4. The Council understands that some members of the public attending its meetings may not wish to be recorded and the Chairman of the meeting will facilitate this by ensuring that any such request will be respected by those making a recording. Any member of the public who does not wish to be recorded should make this known to the Town Clerk or the Chair prior to the commencement of the meeting.

2. Rules of Procedure

2.1. The rules that the Council will apply are:

a)      The Council will display requirements as to filming, recording and broadcasting on its website and those undertaking these activities will be deemed to have accepted them whether they have read them or not.

b)      The Chair may also verbally remind the meeting and all present of the freedom to record.

c)      A person or persons recording the Council meeting are reminded that the “Public Participation” period is not part of the formal meeting and that they should take legal advice for themselves as to their rights to make any recording during that period.

d)      Where the press and public are excluded from a meeting or part of a meeting owing to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, recording of that meeting or that part of the meeting will not be permitted.

e)      Any children or young people under the age of 18 who are present at the meeting are not to be filmed unless their parents / guardians have given their written consent. This provision also applies to vulnerable adults, whereby the consent of a responsible adult is required for recording, i.e. a medical professional, carer or legal guardian.

• Whilst those attending meetings are deemed to have consented to the filming, recording or broadcasting of meetings, those exercising the rights to film, record and broadcast must respect the rights of other people attending under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 g)     In particular, those wishing to film or record a meeting are requested to focus only on Council proceedings and not on those members of the public in attendance.

h)      The Council may, at its own discretion, require members of the public who do not consent to being recorded to sit separately from those who are content to be recorded.

i)        All film recording must be overt (i.e. clearly visible to anyone at the meeting).

j)        Members of the pubic are permitted to film or record meetings to which they are permitted access in a non-disruptive manner.

k)      The use of digital and social media recording tools, for example Twitter, blogging or audio recording are allowed as long as this type of recording is carried out in a non-disruptive way and only to the extent that it does not interfere with any person’s ability, even where he or she has a disability, to follow the debate.

• Commentary to any recording or filming may not be added whilst a meeting is in progress.

m)     Flash photography is deemed as disruptive; therefore, the use of flash photography is not permitted during Council meetings.

n)      A person or persons making a recording has no right to interrupt the Council by asking questions or making comments. The person recording has no right to ask Councillors, officers or any members of the public who have been given permission to contribute orally to the meeting to repeat a statement for the purposes of the recording.

o)        . The Chair of the meeting has the authority to stop a meeting and recommend that the Council takes appropriate action if any person contravenes these principles or is deemed to be recording in a disruptive manner.

p)      The recording and reporting on meetings of the Council, its committees and sub-committees is subject to the law and it is the responsibility of those doing the recording and reporting to ensure compliance. This will include the Human Rights Act, the Data Protection Act and the laws of libel and defamation.

q)      The recording should not be edited in a way that could lead to misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the proceedings or infringement of the Council’s values or in a way that ridicules or shows a lack of respect for those in the recording. The Council would expect any recording in breach of these rules to be removed from public view. The Council will have no liability for material published by any other person unless it is itself undertaking the publication through its offices.

r)       The Council may itself photograph, film, record or broadcast meetings and can retain, use or dispose of such material in accordance with its retention and disposal policies. Where a Council proposes to record all of its own meetings it will be bound by this policy.

s)      Where the Council proposes to record all of its own meetings, it will resolve how long such recordings will be kept and how members of the public may obtain copies. The Council will include such recordings within its Publication Scheme.

t)       The Council is not liable for the actions of any person making a recording at a Council meeting which identifies a member of the public or for any publication of that recording.

u)      The minutes of a Council meeting remain the statutory and legally binding formal record of Council decisions.