Oakham Council Town Clerk Decides all Council matters are now Private and Confidential

The Town Clerk of Oakham Town Council has now decided all council matters are now Private and Confidential.

It surprises me other members accept this.

Oakham town Council is a public body that is meant to serve the public.

It is open to public scrutiny.

Letter sent to members:


Subject: Private and Confidential.

I received a letter from The Town Clerk marked private and confidential.

The Town Clerk told me he would be sending out all correspondence in future marked in this way, because of my blog, although I have never published and confidential matter in the past. This is another example of how Oakham Town Council thinks its a exclusive members club.

Can I remind Oakham Town Council members, we serve the public and the town council is not a private organisation.

Yes there are times when it is appropriate to mark items private and confidential, when the matter is a employment issue or if relating to contracts and it is considered commercially sensitive.

As we all know when the press and public were kicked out of the meeting to discuss the bandstand the Clerk then informed us but not the press and public they could apply for the information under the freedom of information act.

Private and Confidential should not be used as in this case to cover up a loss of £15,000 of public money, because the town clerk did not check contracts correctly.

I am copying this communication to Rutland County Council legal services for their advice.

I believe it is not correct for the town clerk to mark all council business private and confidential.

If he does this how can councillor consult and carry out their duties and serve the public?

From

Cllr Martin Brookes