CouncilPapers.

What this page covers

When you commit an agenda, it does not automatically become the live version visible to councillors and the public. This is a separate step — and it is the most common source of confusion in the versioning system.

This page explains how to make a version live, how to switch between versions, and what to be careful about.

For background on why versions work this way, see Agendas, versions and committing.

How versions become live

The first agenda created for a meeting (Version 1) always starts off as the live version. Before it is committed, councillors and the public can see that a meeting exists but that the agenda has not yet been published. Once committed, the agenda becomes visible in full.

Any subsequent version — created by cloning an existing agenda — does not become live automatically, even after committing. It remains invisible to councillors and the public until you explicitly switch to it using the Change Active Agenda button.

This is intentional: it allows you to prepare and commit a new version while Version 1 (or whichever version is currently live) remains visible, switching only when you are ready.

Committing a non-active version never makes it live. The switch is always a deliberate, separate action.

1. Go to the View Meeting page for the relevant meeting.

2. Scroll to the Agendas table. The currently live version has a tick in the Live column.

3. Click Change Active Agenda below the table.

4. The Review Meetings Status page opens, showing all versions of the agenda with their version number, creation date, and status. The currently live version has its radio button selected.

5. Select the radio button next to the version you want to make live.

6. Click Make Live Agenda.

7. You are returned to the View Meeting page. A banner confirms the switch: "Switched live agenda to [version number]". The tick in the Agendas table moves to the newly active version.

Switching between versions

You can switch to any version at any time — not just the most recently committed one. This means you can:

• Switch from V1 to V1.1 when V1.1 is ready
• Switch back from V1.1 to V1 if needed
• Switch to any other committed version in the list

The switch takes effect immediately. Councillors and the public will see the newly active version as soon as you confirm.

A warning about uncommitted versions

The version list shows all versions — including those still in Agenda Writing status that have not yet been committed.

If you make an uncommitted version live, the previously visible agenda will disappear from the public portal and the Councillor App and be replaced with an unpublished, incomplete agenda. This would be visible immediately.

Unsetting the live agenda

The first option in the version list is None — unset the live agenda. Selecting this and clicking Make Live Agenda removes the live agenda entirely — no version will be visible to councillors or the public.

This option exists for exceptional circumstances only. In normal use there should always be a live agenda for an upcoming meeting once one has been published.

If the switch does not seem to have worked

If councillors are still seeing the old version after switching:

• Check the Agendas table on the View Meeting page and confirm the tick is on the correct version
• Ask councillors to refresh their browser or the Councillor App
• Check that the version you switched to is in a published status — an uncommitted version will show as unpublished to councillors