Before you begin to write a report you should speak to:

• your director and executive director to check a report is required
• legal services, if there is a legal angle
• finance, if it could have a financial impact
• people services, to discuss the impact on staff and policies
• digital, change and technology, if relevant
• asset management, if relevant
• portfolio holder, so they aren’t surprised by the report or anything in it.

You should also consider the following and carry out the necessary assessments so that you can add a summary of each to your report. This includes:

• an equality analysis
• a data protection impact assessment
• a sustainability analysis
• any risks that may occur from the changes
• value for money
• prevention.

If you’d like to view previous reports that have gone to The Cabinet they are available on the committees minutes and agendas page of our corporate website.

Follow these top tips when you are writing and preparing your report.

• Plan in advance and consult

  There will be lead in times and a consultation period required for your report. The deadlines for the publication of agendas are legal and extensions are usually not possible. Be proactive in thinking about who your report affects and speak to relevant services as early as possible.

• Use the corporate report template

  Make sure you follow the instructions in the report writing template to make sure it is formatted correctly and well presented.

• Use plain English and be concise

  Explain enough that your reader understands the issues and try to anticipate where more detail would be useful.

• Avoid jargon and acronyms

  There’s no need to use unnaturally formal language but avoid the use of jargon, acronyms and abbreviations to avoid confusion, where possible, or spell them out in full on first use.

• Follow our style guide

  Refer to our corporate identity and style guide for maintaining a consistent and cohesive brand identity, such as when to use capital letters or how to present lists, with the exception that reports should capitalise specific job titles like the Executive Director of Corporate Resources.

• Make clear recommendations

  Clearly state the options and reasons for recommendations in the body of your report.

• Be aware of your audience

  What works for one audience may not be appropriate for another. For example, how you write a policy will be different depending on who it’s for and different again from the way you write a report.

• Complete relevant assessments

  This is important to make sure all implications have been considered.

• Sign off for your report

  Make sure you get the correct sign off and authorisation for your report.

Background papers

Under the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014) any report for a meeting which is open to public inspection must contain a list of background papers.

Background papers are documents relating to the report that:

• disclose any facts or matters on which the report is based
• have been relied on in preparing the report but do not include any published works.

These papers must be kept for four years after the meeting and be available to the public, if requested.

Supporting papers

In order to reduce the size of agendas, large documents directly associated with your report, such as policies, strategies or plans should not be attached with your report. These should form the supporting papers and aren't printed with agendas.

You must make reference to any supporting papers in the executive summary and in the recommendations of your report, if appropriate.

You need to allow enough time before the report deadline for the authorising officer to sign off the report. Depending on where your report is going to determines the level of sign off required.

The final report, along with the signed consultation form by the authorising officer, must be submitted to the committee manager by the specified deadline.

This is information a government department has told the council not to share, or that a court order prevents sharing. The press and public must always be excluded for this.

Under the Local Government Act 1972 exempt information falls into one of the following seven categories:

• Information relating to any individual
• Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual
• Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

  However it is not exempt information if it is required to be registered under the:

  • Companies Act 1985
  • Friendly Societies Act 1974
  • Friendly Societies Act 1992
  • Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978
  • Building Societies Act 1986
  • Charities Act 1993.
• Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations, or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations’ matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.
• Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.
• Information which reveals that the authority proposes to:

  • give under any enactment a notice under or by virtue of which requirements are imposed on a person
  • make an order or direction under any enactment.
• Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

The press and public may be excluded, but only if the public interest test supports it.

If your report contains exempt information

Mark the top of the first page with the reason, using the correct paragraph number. Use this wording:

Exempt Information by virtue of paragraph(s) [insert relevant number list of 1 to 7 above] of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Ask the committee manager if you are unsure how to do this.

To decide if information is exempt, you need to apply a public interest test. This means explaining why it's not in the public interest to share the information.

Information can only stay exempt if the public interest in keeping it private outweighs the public interest in sharing it. This applies for as long as that stays true.

If there's a dispute, the assistant chief executive (legal, governance and democratic) makes the final decision. If they're not available, the democratic services manager decides instead.

This eLearning course will:

• help you explain how to recognise and understand the council structure and decision-making process
• detail the principles of the report writing process to help you prepare corporate reports
• explain the correct process for approval based on which committee the report is for
• summarise policy requirements and explain how to complete an equality analysis, sustainability analysis and a data protection impact assessment
• recognise the timeframe needed for consultation, taking into account deadlines for submission, who to consult and sign-off.

You can complete this in your own time, in one go, or come back to it as much as you need to.

Sign up

If you’d like to sign up for the online course or find out more, apply on our course finder. This will then show in your eLearn dashboard.

For all of us working at the council, it’s important to understand how the organisation is run politically. This course is a great opportunity to learn about the role and responsibilities of our councillors, and to understand how their role is different from council staff.

The course has two parts:

• online eLearning course to help you understand the political environment
• a question and answer session with the leader of the council or other councillors. This will take place after you have completed the eLearning part and will either be face-to-face or via Microsoft Teams.

The eLearning part of the course will cover:

• the political structure and political environment that applies to the council
• roles and responsibilities of councillors and how this differs from officer roles
• the protocols that govern working relationships between councillors and officers
• effective working practices
• what is appropriate in terms of information and impartiality.

You can complete the eLearning part in your own time in one go or come back to it as much as you need to.

Sign up

If you’d like to sign up for the online course or find out more, apply on our course finder. This will then show in your eLearn dashboard.