How To Object
Published Less Than 24 Hours Before Full Council
On Monday 23rd June, mid-morning, the agenda for the Full Council Meeting scheduled for Tuesday 24th June 2025 was finally published—less than 24 hours before the meeting took place.
This was not just inconvenient. It was a breach of published guidance designed to uphold transparency, accountability, and public participation in local government.
According to the Northern Ireland Local Government (Executive Arrangements) Regulations 2014, the public is entitled to receive notice and documentation in advance of any public meeting:
“A copy of the agenda and reports for a public meeting should be made available at least five clear days in advance of the meeting.”
– Regulation 7(4), NI Local Government (Executive Arrangements) Regulations 2014
That didn’t happen.
We wrote to the Chief Executive of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council to raise our concerns. His response by return was:
“On this occasion, the meeting pack (agenda and documents) were not published until today. This happens on occasions when there are late reports.”
This was not the first time this occurred—and it raises serious questions about process and accountability. When the full council agenda is published late, it leaves the public with no time to review reports, submit questions, or understand what’s being decided in their name.
LCCC have since indicated that they will provide a fuller response to our queries in due course. We’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, we will continue to call for the timely publication of agendas and documents—because democracy works best in the daylight.
