Council must withold report on IT ‘debacle’

Towards the end of the otherwise uneventful meeting, a debate was sparked by Cllr Sunderland over the confidential nature of council papers relating to the recent collapse of its computer systems.

Mr Sunderland questioned why such documents should be exempt from the public audience in the first place.

Joint committee chair Cllr Liza McKinney said she had been told the members themselves were lucky to get a copy of the ‘pink papers’and that the public would have to be asked to leave before the documents could be discussed.

Adur and Worthing councillors met at the Adur Civic Centre in Shoreham to discuss the councils’ progress on a range of matters including flooding, housing and homelessness.

Councillor Brian Coomber brought up the issue of the councils’ online magazine and its circulation, highlighting the fact that some members of the community were unable to access it due to their lack of email.

Cllr Yallop replied by saying that local government secretay Eric Pickles was planning to introduce a Bill banning such magazines which he calls “town hall Pravdas”.

For full story see the Worthing Herald, out Thursday, June 20