Agenda item

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services provided advice to members on this item.

As you will know, when arriving at decisions relating to any of the Councils business, you must do so with an open mind and consider all the information before you objectively, and have due regard to the advice of your Council’s officers. During the decision-making process, you must act fairly and in the public interest. You are required to make your decisions on the basis of the facts in front of you, and not to have made your mind up in advance of the meeting.

If you consider that you have come to a settled view or decision in respect of this matter prior to the meeting on the 19th April 2023 and are will be unable or unwilling to take into account any other representations or advice, you will

in all likelihood have predetermined the matter. Whilst it is expected that this is unlikely, should you find or consider yourself to have predetermined the decision, please declare this at the earliest opportunity to the Monitoring Officer. If you have pre-determined this matters you will be unable to take any part in this decision and are unlikely to be able to participate if any further decisions fall due to be made.

The proposal which falls due to be considered on the 19th April 2023 is a new and fresh decision that members will make, so the fact that you may have voted in a particular way at a previous meeting, will not amount to pre- determination provided you retain a genuinely open mind in respect of this new meeting.

You are also entitled to hold a preliminary view about a particular matter in advance of a meeting (otherwise known as pre-disposition) as long as you keep a genuinely open mind and are prepared to consider the merits of all the arguments and points made about the matter under consideration before reaching your decision.

Pre-determination, on the other hand, as I have indicated earlier would be where you have clearly decided on a course of action in advance of a meeting and are totally unwilling to consider the evidence and arguments presented on that matter during the meeting. Accordingly if you feel you have predetermined your position you should not be taking part in any decision making process. Pre-determination could not only invalidate the decision, lead to proceedings being brought against the Council and it may also amount to a breach of the Members Code of Conduct.

To make you aware there are two different types of predetermination you must consider:

· Actual predetermination – this is when a person has closed their mind to all considerations other than an already held view.

· Apparent predetermination – this is where a fair-minded and well- informed observer, looking objectively at all circumstances, considers that there is a real risk that one or more of the decision-makers has refused even to consider a relevant argument or would refuse to consider a new argument.

It is perhaps this element of apparent predetermination that you must give great thought to.

It should be noted that the determination here is one for members to decide. If a challenge was brought as to a decision maker having predetermined a matter, it would be for that member to justify and provide evidence, in all likelihood to the Courts, that they were not predetermined.

 For the sake of clarity, manifesto commitments and policy statements) which are consistent with a preparedness to consider and weigh relevant factors when reaching the final decision, are examples of legitimate predisposition, not predetermination. In addition, previously expressed views on matters which arise for decision in the ordinary run of events are routine provided you are able to approach this particular decision with an open mind.