1.5 Explain why it is important to maintain confidentiality of meetings, discussions and actionsMeetings of minutes can be used as legal evidence in employment or workplace disputes and therefore minutes need to be kept confidential and kept undisclosed unless requested under the Freedom of Information Act. With this act, minutes of meetings can be requested and disclosed to the public, however there does need to be suitable public interest to do so. Sometimes, members of the meeting will give their consent for the minutes to be released. As minutes can be referred to or requested to be looked at, keeping them impartial and free of emotive vocabulary surrounding individuals and what they might have said is the best way to ensure they stay as neutral as possible.
1.6 Explain why it is necessary to record who proposed and seconded suggestions and changesThe main reason the names of people who proposed and seconded actions within a meeting are recorded is to remind the members of the meetings and to keep the minutes accurate it. It is not always necessary to record who seconded each motion or the numbers of votes it received, however you may wish to note the initials; members can also request that their name is recorded along with their vote. It would be unfair to include someone’s name without their permission because if a case ever required them to testify in court, they may be put under unnecessary pressure.
Fundamentally, the primary function of minutes is to record whether each motion passed or not.
