Cancelling a meeting after the agenda is published

Why this is different

Once a meeting's agenda has been published, the meeting is a matter of public record. If it then doesn't go ahead - or is abandoned part-way through - you cannot simply delete it. Instead you cancel it, which:

• keeps the meeting on the record, with a Cancelled / Abandoned badge on every public and internal screen;
• still produces a minute - an empty one noting the meeting was cancelled, or a curtailed one ending at the last item considered; and
• keeps the meeting counting towards the Council Cycle and councillor attendance.

That last point is the key difference. A meeting cancelled before its agenda was published is treated as if it never happened - it drops out of the cycle count, the meeting numbering and the attendance figures. A meeting cancelled after publication does count, so getting the attendance right matters. That is why there are two steps.

Step 1 - Record accurate attendance

Even though the meeting is being cancelled, record who was there, so the attendance record and the six-month attendance rule stay accurate. Start the meeting's minutes and complete the attendance - see Recording attendance.

On Edit Minutes Settings, mark each councillor as Present, Excused (apologies) or Absent:

• If the meeting opened but could not proceed - for example it was inquorate - record exactly who attended and who sent apologies. Those marked Present are credited as attending.
• If the meeting never opened - no one met - you can leave attendance unrecorded. A cancelled meeting with no recorded attendance is not counted against anyone, and CouncilPapers will not prompt you to fill it in.

Step 2 - Follow the cancellation routine

1. From the View Meeting page click Cancel / abandon meeting, or from the minutes click Abandon meeting.
2. Choose the reason - for example Not quorate, Fire alarm / evacuation or Severe weather - and, optionally, the time it was stopped and a short note of what happened.
3. If the meeting opened and dealt with some business before stopping, choose the last item considered. Everything after it is recorded as "Not considered". If the meeting never opened, leave this as None - meeting did not open, and the minute will simply record that the meeting was cancelled before Item 1.
4. Optionally tick List the not-considered item titles in the minute PDF to add an informative list of the items that were not reached.
5. Click Record cancellation.

Step 3 - Commit the minutes

Recording the cancellation does not publish it. Commit the minutes to publish the record - until you do, councillors and the public will not see it. See Committing minutes.

Once committed, the minute is published, the meeting shows its Cancelled / Abandoned badge everywhere, and any items that were not considered appear below a Meeting Abandoned heading, each showing "Not Considered due to …".