Secretive City of London Corporation tries to lock public out of meetings

The City of London Corporation, a public body, has announced proposals to ban members of the public from some of its meetings and stop public access to much of the information presently available.

The rule changes, to be debated at a committee meeting tomorrow (17 March), would apply to meetings of its “non-local authority functions”, to delineate between its de facto role as a London borough and its other activities, such as promoting the City worldwide and supporting the institutions of the Square Mile.

The Corporation, long renowned for its mediaeval levels of secrecy and dislike for democracy, is attempting to reinterpret The Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 to allow it to operate “with greater discretion”. Members of the public are already barred from a whole raft of meetings, including any related to preventing, investigating or even prosecuting crime.

At a time when public sensitivity over the issue of transparency has never been higher – with the public sector’s attempts to squirm out of the Freedom of Information Act, the publication of the Investigatory Powers Bill (‘snoopers’ charter’), and the banning of pro-Brexit government ministers from seeing any papers related to the EU – this latest attempt by a public body to shroud its works in secrecy are unwelcome. The fact that the meeting is being held the day after the Budget announcement suggests also that the Corporation is trying to rush the changes through without due exposure and scrutiny.

Countering the proposal

It seems that Alex Deane, a Common Councilman, will be a lonely voice in opposition at the meeting tomorrow. Commenting on the proposals, Mr. Deane called it “a very straightforward attempt to limit access to information“, adding: “It is outrageous.”

The Freedom Association opposes all attempts by public bodies to hide their decision-making from the public, whose money they are so happy to spend. There is already a Corporation standing order (No. 4) banning the public from meetings if “confidential information…is to be discussed”; now the Corporation has proposed adding a revision, stating that the public can also be banned when “a resolution has been passed to exclude the public in respect of information…which the City Corporation decides not to disclose”.

The full proposal can be read here. Follow Alex Deane’s updates on Twitter here.