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SCRUTINY
Members of the public who attend Scrutiny Panel hearings/meetings should be aware of the required standards of behaviour before they enter the meeting room. There should be no interruption of the proceedings in any way. Mobile phones should be switched off before entering the room.
Requests to take any visual footage
of scrutiny hearings/meetings must be made in writing to the scrutiny office
for the attention of the relevant Panel Chairman at least three working days in
advance of the hearing/meeting. Permission will only be granted if the witness
also consents to the visual footage being taken. If a witness has agreed to
video footage being taken and a matter arises whereby (s)he does not want video
footage to be taken, the member of the public will be required to cease
operation.
Equally,
if it is agreed that a matter should be considered “in camera”, no video
footage will be authorised.
The Chairman may request that any
member of the public who does not observe these conditions be removed from the meeting
room and excluded from the remainder of that hearing/meeting.
If business is threatened in any way, the Chairman may close the meeting, or suspend it for a specified period to allow order to be restored. If, in these circumstances, the Chairman leaves the chair after ordering that the disturbance stop, this will have the effect of suspending the meeting. The Chairman may reconvene the meeting later the same day as soon as it is considered appropriate to do so.
The Chairman may also suspend a meeting if there is an equipment failure, or for meal or other breaks. Chairmen may utilise this power to initiate short breaks in meetings, for instance between witnesses.