Behind closed doors
Councils may shut the public out of a meeting, but only for reasons the law lists, and they must say which one they are relying on. This is every closed-door entry we can find in council's own agendas and minutes — 832 of them between 2014-01-13 and 2026-04-16.
Compiled by parsing council's published agendas and minutes. Nothing here comes from inside a closed session — it is a record of when the doors shut and what reason was given, both of which are public.
Closed sessions by year
| Year | Entries | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 37 | |
| 2015 | 60 | |
| 2016 | 40 | |
| 2017 | 29 | |
| 2018 | 21 | |
| 2019 | 30 | |
| 2020 | 42 | |
| 2021 | 27 | |
| 2022 | 29 | |
| 2023 | 193 | |
| 2024 | 114 | |
| 2025 | 103 | |
| 2026 | 107 |
Reasons given
The statutory ground council cited when it moved to close the doors.
| Stated basis | Times cited |
|---|---|
| Section 275 (1) o | 94 |
| section 254J(3)(g) | 79 |
| Section 254J (3) o | 77 |
| section 254J(3)(e) | 31 |
| section 254J(3) (g) | 18 |
| section 254J(3)(g); Section 254D(3) o; Section 254J (3) o | 15 |
| section 275(1)(e) | 14 |
| 254D(3) L | 13 |
| section 275(1)(f) | 12 |
| section 275 (1)(f) | 11 |
| section 254J(3) o | 8 |
| section 254J(3)(h | 8 |