Building an agenda

Step 1 — Create the agenda

From the View Meeting page, click + Create Agenda.

The Create New Agenda page asks you to choose an Agenda Source:

All sources except "Clone Agenda from this Meeting" create a Major Version.

Using a model agenda for a single meeting

If you select Use a ready-made Model Agenda… under Model Agenda (one-off), a dropdown appears with the same list of models available in the library, grouped by England (NALC) and Wales (One Voice Wales). Choose a model and click Create Agenda to build the agenda from it.

This does not affect the committee's default content — it only applies to this one meeting. It is particularly useful for the Annual Meeting of the Council, which follows a different structure (leading with the election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman) from an ordinary Full Council meeting.

See Model agendas for more detail.

You must also choose a Version Type:

• Major Version (e.g. v2.0) — fully editable. Item titles can be added, edited, and deleted. Use for all new agendas and for revisions where titles must change.
• Minor Version (e.g. v1.1) — item titles cannot be added, edited, or deleted. Use when revising an already-published agenda without changing its titles, to maintain statutory compliance with the original publication.

Minor Version is only available when cloning an existing version of this meeting's agenda — for other sources a notice explains that only Major Version is available. For first agendas, only Major Version is available.

You can also add Notes — a short internal comment about this version of the agenda, visible to staff only (e.g. "Minor version to add late contractor quote to Item 6").

Click Create Agenda to proceed. You are returned to the View Meeting page with a confirmation banner ("Agenda version [n] created successfully."). The new agenda appears in the Agendas table — click into it to open the agenda building page.

Step 2 — The agenda building page

The agenda building page shows the full agenda with all current items listed below the agenda header. A toolbar at the top of the page provides the main actions:

In a Minor Version, Add Item, Order Agenda Items and the Library options are disabled (a tooltip explains why), because a Minor Version must preserve the published item structure.

Step 3 — Working with agenda items

Each item in the agenda has controls beneath it:

Edit Entry

Opens the item editing form. Fields available are:

Click Save to save changes, Cancel Edit to discard, or Delete Item to remove the item (and all child-items) entirely. Delete Item is disabled in Minor Versions.

Add Child

Adds a sub-item organised beneath this item. The sub-item is numbered automatically — for example, clicking Add Child on Item 2 creates Item 2.1. A second child would become Item 2.2, and so on. A child item can have its own child items. Add Child is disabled in Minor Versions.

Add Links

A dropdown for adding reference links to this item:

• Link to URL — adds an external web link, displayed as a reference in the published agenda.
• Link to Council Paper — currently shown but disabled.

Add Content

A dropdown with options for adding structured content to this item. (This dropdown is hidden in Minor Versions.)

• Setup Approval of Prior Minutes (As [committee]) — links through to a page listing minutes awaiting approval, which can then be associated with this agenda item. On the adopting committee (usually Full Council) this option is labelled Setup Approval and Adoption of Prior Minutes, and a second option — Setup Adoption of Prior Minutes (of other Committees As Full Council) — also appears. See The approval and adoption workflow.
• Add Imported Planning Applications — adds planning applications that have been imported and marked as for consultation, for information, or final status reached. Each application is added as a child item automatically.
• Create Series of Child Items from Title — opens a text area where you can type multiple item titles on separate lines. CouncilPapers creates one child item per line, saving time when adding a long list of sub-items such as planning applications.

Library

A dropdown for copying content between this agenda, your CouncilPapers Library, and previous agendas. (Hidden in Minor Versions.) The options are grouped:

• Insert After This Item — Copy from Previous Agenda, or Insert from Library
• Insert as Child of This Item — Copy from Previous Agenda, or Insert from Library
• Replace This Item — Replace from Previous Agenda, or Replace from Library
• This Item — Save to Library, which saves this item (and its children) to your Library for reuse

On a committed agenda, a standalone Save to Library button appears against each item instead.

Step 4 — Marking items as incomplete

If an item needs further work before the agenda is ready — for example, a report has not yet been received — tick Mark as incomplete when editing that item. An amber warning icon appears next to the item title on the agenda building page as a reminder.

When you come to commit the agenda, CouncilPapers runs preflight checks and lists any items still marked as incomplete. You can still proceed with committing, but the warning ensures nothing is accidentally left unfinished.

Step 5 — Ordering items

Click Order Agenda Items to open the drag-and-drop reordering interface. Drag items into the correct order and save. Sub-items move with their parent item.

Item numbers are not updated in real time as you drag. Click Update Item Order to apply the new sequence — numbers will update once you return to the agenda building page. (Ordering is not available in a Minor Version.)

Step 6 — Adding papers and annexes

Click Manage Files to open the file upload and annex management page.

Uploading files

Two drop areas are shown at the top of the page:

• Drop Public Files Here — files that will appear in the public agenda and public portal
• Drop Confidential Files Here — files that will only appear in the confidential agenda and the Councillor App

Drag PDF files from your computer into the appropriate drop area. Once uploaded, reload the page (F5 or Ctrl+R) — uploaded files will then appear in the Unallocated Files list on the left.

You can also use the Search Existing Files box to find files that have already been uploaded to other meetings, and reuse them without uploading again.

Associating files with agenda items

The right-hand column shows all agenda items. Drag a file from the Unallocated Files list and drop it onto the agenda item you want to attach it to.

Once you have arranged all files against their items, click Update File Order to save, then return to the agenda.

Annexed files now appear beneath their agenda item on the agenda building page, and links are created automatically in the public portal, the Councillor App, and the generated PDF agenda.

Changing a file's public or confidential status

A file's public or confidential status can be changed after uploading. Use the Edit button next to any file to update its status if you uploaded it to the wrong area.

Step 7 — Previewing the agenda

Before committing, use Preview Agenda to generate watermarked PDF previews. A preview is available for every combination of scope and length — public and confidential, short (titles only, no annexes) and full (with annexes).

Reviewing the preview before committing is recommended — it is the closest representation of what will be published.

Step 8 — When you are ready to commit

Once the agenda is complete, click Commit Agenda. See Committing an agenda for what happens next.

The notice board cover page

Click Preview Cover to view the cover page that must be displayed on the council's notice board — a statutory requirement. This page is separate from the agenda itself and is designed to be printed and posted.