Where the SNN decision is made by full council or by a committee/sub-committee then:
- The meeting shall be open to the public unless the public is excluded, and the meeting held in private where confidential or exempt information may be disclosed
- Copies of the agenda shall be open for inspection by the public together with copies of reports save to the extent the meeting will be held in private
- After the meeting the minutes, any summary of a private part of the meeting, the agenda and any reports are open to inspection for six years. Background papers (dependent on local authorities' policies) are available for up to four years
Where the SNN decision is made by an officer exercising delegated authority then:
- The officer must produce a written record of the decision containing the date, the decision taken, reasons, details of any alternatives considered and rejected and (not in all cases) whether any elected member has declared a conflict of interest.
- That written record and background papers (dependent on local authorities' policies) must be made available for inspection by the public as soon as reasonably practicable. Written records must be retained for six years and background papers for four years.