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Access to Meetings and Papers

Meetings

All Council, Executive and Committee meetings are held in public and members of the public are welcome to attend to listen to Members discuss the items on the agenda. On some occasions, there may be items of business (for example items that affect individual members of staff, contracts or property matters) that are to be discussed in private. These are very few in number and are usually dealt with at the end of the meeting.
 
Most Executive and Committee meetings take place at 6.30pm and are held in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall, Bedford. Meetings of Full Council also start at 6.30pm and are held in the Harpur Suite, Bedford. Clicking on the Calendar link below will display the Calendar of scheduled meetings up to May 2008. Clicking on the weekly list will display all of the meetings that are taking place this week, where they are being held, and contact officer details.

• Calendar of Meetings
• Weekly List of Meetings

Bedford Borough Council is a Listening Council and Officers are required to ensure that meetings take place in venues which are:

• Suitable for the purpose;
• Accessible; and
• Convenient

for all its citizens who wish to attend and listen to, or participate in, its meetings. It therefore keeps under review the matters to be dealt with at individual meetings and, if there is public interest in a particular meeting, either generally throughout the Borough, or within a particular area, it will take all possible steps to ensure that the meeting is held in a venue which has sufficient capacity and is conveniently located for those who wish to attend.

The Council aims to give equal access to everyone and will make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of members of the public who have disabilities, who wish to attend any meeting. An induction loop facility is available for meetings held in the Council Chamber and in the Harpur Suite and, if sufficient notice is given, we may be able to arrange British Sign Language interpretation or your preferred method of communication. All of our meetings are held in accessible venues.

Most meetings include an opportunity at the beginning of the agenda for members of the public to ask questions about issues that the Committee concerned is responsible for. These need to be submitted to the Committee Services Team no later than 10.00am on the third working day before the meeting concerned. For further information and assistance, please contact the Committee Services Team on Bedford (01234) 227210 or email arobertson@bedford.gov.uk.
 
Committee Papers

Agendas for and most reports to meetings are published 5 days before the date of the meeting. They are available on this website which can be accessed at the Bedford Central Library and inspected at the Town Hall Reception. Minutes of meetings are usually published within 2 weeks of the date of the meeting. They are also available on this website and the Town Hall Reception.