news.today
Hello · Register today | LoginHello · My Account[—] [34]
UK

Gateshead closes women's committee meetings to public

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 6 Nov, 15:43 · Archive

Gateshead Council has decided to hold its Women and Girls Committee meetings in private, barring the public from attending.

Gateshead Council's Women and Girls Committee will now hold all its meetings in closed session, with no agendas published publicly. The decision has sparked calls for greater transparency from opposition councillors and accusations that the council is 'silencing women'.

Council leader Nick Allan said the decision was recommended by council officers, not the ruling Reform administration, after accusations that some committee members and members of the public 'got out of hand' at a meeting. Mr Allan said the chief legal officer had since written to suggest the decision might have been too hasty and could be reviewed.

Liberal Democrat councillor Dawn Welsh said closing every meeting shuts residents out of discussions affecting their lives, from domestic abuse and safety to health inequalities and employment barriers. She called for the committee to remain open to the public and questioned why the council wanted to conduct the business behind closed doors. Ms Welsh also said she had written to the council's monitoring officer asking who authorised the decision and on what legal basis.

A request from Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors for the meetings to continue in public until a legal basis for making them private could be proved was refused.

Gateshead closes women's committee meetings to public
Image: BBC Tyne And Wear

Comments (0)

How it is being reported

In this story: Gateshead Council · Nick Allan · Dawn Welsh · Reform · Gateshead

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log