Transparency and openness should be the fundamental principle behind everything councils and other local government bodies do, and new rights have now been introduced by the Openness of

Local Government Bodies 2014, which will enable members of the public to know how decisions are made.

These rights allow members of the public including citizens and professional journalists to:

This guide provides practical information that will help the public to exercise their new rights under the Regulations, and what they should expect from their councils and other local