§ 32. Mr. Alex Carlileasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the level of secrecy in local government and in particular the practice of some councils of excluding opposition parties from council decision-making processes.
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§ Mrs. RumboldThe Government believe it is important for local authorities to conduct their business as openly as possible. To this end the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 was fully supported by the Government and will be effective from 1 April 1986. In addition, the Widdicombe committee of inquiry into the conduct of local authority business is considering the need to clarify the status and role of party groups in local authority decision-taking; and to ensure the proper participation and accountability of individual elected members in the decision-taking process. My right hon. Friend expects to receive the committee's main report in the early part of next year.