Newham Council is set to discuss excluding the press and public from a portion of its upcoming Council meeting on 17 July 2025, according to the meeting agenda. The exclusion is related to an exempt report concerning staffing matters related to chief officers.
The council will vote on a resolution to bar the press and public from a segment of the meeting due to the discussion of exempt information, as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. This act outlines the categories of information that allow councils to hold private discussions.
The agenda for the meeting, to be held in the Main Hall of the Old Town Hall, Stratford, also includes the election of a chair, with Councillor Dr Rohit Kumar Dasgupta currently holding the position of Chair of Council and Councillor Imam Haque serving as Vice Chair of Council.
Councillors will also be asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or non-pecuniary interests related to the agenda items. Guidance provided to members, detailed in the members' declarations of interest guidance, clarifies the types of interests that must be declared and when members should withdraw from discussions. General dispensations have been granted to all members until the Annual Council meeting in 2026, meaning members will not need to leave the meeting if their disclosable pecuniary interest arises from circumstances such as an interest common to the majority of inhabitants in their ward.
The exempt report on staffing matters pertains to chief officers and will be discussed under Rule 12.1 of the Access to Information Rules, citing categories 1, 4, and 5 of rule 11.5. The meeting information does not define what these categories are.
