Police Act 1997 (Provisions in relation to the NCIS Service Authority) Order 1998
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1998/633 |
1998 No. 633
POLICE
The Police Act 1997 (Provisions in relation to the NCIS Service Authority) Order 1998
Made 9th March 1998
Laid before Parliament 11th March 1998
Coming into force 1st April 1998
In exercise of the powers conferred upon him by section 44 of the Police Act 19971, the Secretary of State hereby makes the following Order:
PART A
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Citation and commencement
A1. This Order may be cited as the Police Act 1997 (Provisions in relation to the NCIS Service Authority) Order 1998 and shall come into force on 1st April 1998.
Interpretation
A2.—(1) In this Order—
“the 1989 Act” means the Local Government and Housing Act 19892; and
“the Authority” means the NCIS Service Authority.
(2) Any reference in this Order to a proper officer shall, in relation to any purpose, be construed as a reference to an officer appointed for that purpose by the Authority.
(3) In this Order, except where the context otherwise requires, any reference to a committee of the Authority is a reference to—
(a)
(a) a committee which is appointed under article D2, below;
(b)
(b) a joint committee constituted under article D2 below; or
(c)
(c) a sub-committee appointed or established under this Order by a committee falling within sub-paragraph (a) or (b) above.
(4) Any reference in this Order to a local authority is a reference to a body of one of the following descriptions—
(a)
(a) a local authority;
(b)
(b) a police authority;
(c)
(c) the NCIS Service Authority; and
(d)
(d) the NCS Service Authority.
(5) Any reference in this Order to a business day means any day which is not a Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or any day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales.
Revocations
A3. The Police Act 1997 (Provisions in relation to the NCIS Service Authority) (No. 1) Order 19973and the Police Act 1997 (Provisions in relation to the NCIS Service Authority) (No. 2) Order 19974are hereby revoked.
PART B
MEETINGS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AUTHORITY AND ITS COMMITTEES
Meetings and proceedings of the Authority and its committees
B1. The provisions of Schedule 1 to this Order shall have effect with respect to the meetings and proceedings of the Authority and its committees.
Duty to adopt certain procedural standing orders
B2.—(1) No later than the first meeting of the Authority falling after the day on which this Order comes into force, the Authority shall, in respect of the recording of votes, and signing of minutes, of the Authority—
(a)
(a) make standing orders incorporating the provisions set out in paragraph (2) below, or provisions to the like effect, and
(b)
(b) modify any existing standing orders in so far as necessary to conform with those provisions.
(2) The provisions referred to in paragraph (1) above are—
(a)
(a) Where immediately after a vote is taken at a meeting of a relevant body any member of that body so requires, there shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of that meeting whether that person cast his vote for the question or against the question or whether he abstained from voting.
(b)
(b) Where in relation to any meeting of the Authority the next such meeting is a meeting called under paragraph 3 (extraordinary meetings) of Schedule 1 to this Order, the next following meeting of Authority (being a meeting called otherwise than under that paragraph) shall be treated as a suitable meeting for the purposes of paragraph 9(1) and (2) (signing of minutes) of the Schedule.
(3) In paragraph (2)(a) above “relevant body” means the Authority or a committee of the Authority.
Evidence of resolutions and minutes of proceedings etc.
B3.—(1) A document which—
(a)
(a) purports to be a copy of—
(i) a resolution, order or report of Authority, or
(ii) the minutes of the proceedings at a meeting of the Authority; and
(b)
(b) bears a certificate purporting to be signed by the proper officer of the Authority or a person authorised in that behalf by him or the Authority and stating that the resolution was passed or the order or report was made by the Authority on a date specified in the certificate or, as the case may be, that the minutes were signed in accordance with paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to this Order,
shall be evidence in any proceedings of the matters stated in the certificate and of the terms of the resolution, order, report or minutes in question.
(2) In paragraph (1) above, references to the Authority, except the first and second references in sub-paragraph (b), include references to a committee or sub-committee of the Authority.
(3) A document which—
(a)
(a) purports to be a copy of an instrument by which the proper officer of the Authority appointed a person to be an officer of the Authority or authorised a person to perform functions specified in the instrument; and
(b)
(b) bears a certificate purporting to be signed as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) of this article and stating that the document is a copy of the instrument in question,
shall be evidence in any proceedings of the fact that the instrument was made by the said proper officer in the terms of the instrument.
PART C
ACCESS TO MEETINGS AND DOCUMENTS OF THE AUTHORITY AND ITS COMMITTEES
Admission to meetings of the Authority
C1.—(1) A meeting of the Authority shall be open to the public except to the extent that they are excluded (whether during the whole or part of the proceedings) under paragraph (2) below or by resolution under paragraph (4) below.
(2) The public shall be excluded from a meeting of the Authority during an item of business whenever it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that, if members of the public were present during that item, confidential information would be disclosed to them in breach of the obligation of confidence; and nothing in this Part shall be taken to authorise or require the disclosure of confidential information in breach of the obligation of confidence.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) above, “confidential information” means—
(a)
(a) information furnished to the Authority by a Government department upon terms (however expressed) which forbid the disclosure of the information to the public; and
(b)
(b) information the disclosure of which to the public is prohibited by or under any enactment or by the order of a court;
and, in either case, the reference to the obligation of confidence is to be construed accordingly.
(4) The Authority may by resolution exclude the public from a meeting during an item of business whenever it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during that item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as defined in article C9 below.
(5) A resolution under paragraph (4) above shall—
(a)
(a) identify the proceedings, or the part of the proceedings, to which it applies, and
(b)
(b) state the description, in terms of Schedule 2 to this Order, of the exempt information giving rise to the exclusion of the public,
and where such a resolution is passed this article does not require the meeting to be open to the public during proceedings to which the resolution applies.
(6) The following provisions shall apply in relation to a meeting of the Authority, that is to say—
(a)
(a) public notice of the time and place of the meeting shall be given by posting it at the offices of the Authority (and, if the meeting is to be held at premises other than those offices, at those premises) seven clear days at least before the meeting or, if the meeting is convened at shorter notice, then at the time it is convened;
(b)
(b) while the meeting is open to the public, the Authority shall not have the power to exclude members of the public from the meeting; and
(c)
(c) while the meeting is open to the public, duly accredited representatives of newspapers attending the meeting for the purpose of reporting the proceedings for those newspapers shall, so far as practicable, be afforded reasonable facilities for taking their report and, unless the meeting is held in premises not belonging to the Authority or not on the telephone, for telephoning the report at their own expense.
(7) Nothing in this article shall require the Authority to permit the taking of photographs of any proceedings, or the use of any means to enable persons not present to see or hear any proceedings (whether at the time or later), or the making of any oral report on any proceedings as they take place.
(8) This article is without prejudice to any power of exclusion to suppress or prevent disorderly conduct or other misbehaviour at a meeting.
Access to agenda and connected reports
C2.—(1) Copies of the agenda for a meeting of the Authority and, subject to paragraph (2) below, copies of any report for the meeting shall be open to inspection by members of the public at the offices of the Authority in accordance with paragraph (3) below.
(2) If the proper officer thinks fit, there may be excluded from the copies of reports provided in pursuance of paragraph (1) above the whole of any report which, or any part which, relates only to items during which, in his opinion, the meeting is likely not to be open to the public.
(3) Any document which is required by paragraph (1) above to be open to inspection shall be so open at least three clear days before the meeting, except that—
(a)
(a) where the meeting is convened at shorter notice, the copies of the agenda and reports shall be...
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