Recording & Reporting on Public Meetings

In accordance with Government Regulations, people attending any meeting of the Council open to the public (except Licensing Committee, Licensing Panels and Special Licensing Panel) are allowed to record and/or report all or part of that meeting.

If you intend to record a meeting you are asked to notify the relevant Constitutional Services Officer (listed at the top of the agenda for that meeting)/ Chair for that meeting. You should be aware of and abide by the following:

• Unless agreed otherwise in advance, recording and reporting must take place from the public seating area and should be overt and focused on those speaking at the meeting, not other members of the public
• Flash photography or additional lighting is not allowed unless agreement has been reached in advance on how it can be done without disruption to the meeting
• Respect any requests from external contributors/ members of the public to the meeting to suspend recording while they are speaking/ to not record them
• Recording is not allowed when
  • The meeting has agreed to formally exclude the press and public due to the nature of business discussed
  • Filming/ recording equipment should not be left in the meeting room during private sessions
  • If there is a public disturbance/ the meeting has been suspended
  • If the Chair determines that it has not been possible to obtain informed consent from a person with known learning disabilities or mental health issues; or parental consent for a young person speaking, then any recording of these individuals is not allowed

• Oral reporting/ commentary should take place outside or after the meeting
• Recording and reporting should not be disruptive to the meeting, including preventing others viewing and listening to the meeting; acting in a disruptive manner could result in expulsion from the meeting
• The Council expects that recording will not be edited in a way that could lead to misinterpretation of the proceedings
• Individuals and organisations recording/ reporting on a meeting must respect the law and will be responsible for any allegations of breaches of law which may result from their actions

If you are speaking at a public meeting and do not wish to be recorded then you should make your wishes known to the relevant Constitutional Services Officer (listed at the top of the agenda for that meeting)/ Chair who will ask for recording not to take place whilst you are speaking.

A copy of the Council's full policy on recording and reporting on meetings is available from this webpage. The policy does not apply to meetings of the Licensing Committee, Licensing Panels and Special Licensing Panel, but members of the press can still attend and take notes on public meetings of those committees for the purpose of reporting on the meeting.

For more information please contact the Constitutional Services Team Constitutional Services Nottingham City 

Click here to open or save Policy on Filming or Recording Public Meetings.