REGARDING issues raised over the recent public interest and standards committee, John Bullivant (Viewpoints, Jan 30) hasn’t read and understood the reasons given for excluding the public from a standards committee hearing. Firstly, legal advice – councillors aren’t lawyers and secondly, in order to protect public interest, namely the identities of the young members of the public concerned.
The Oxford Mail could not print any more than it has already printed without revealing the identities of vulnerable people.
Note also that the council is not obliged to have a standards committee at all – the Government has abolished the whole standards regime – so as I understand it, there is no obligation on us to hold meetings in public anyway. It’s good practice to do so, though. When you can do so without a risk of breaking the law.
DICK WOLFF (Cllr) Victoria Road Oxford
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