TWO items on tomorrow’s (Friday, April 5) Health and Care scrutiny committee will be held behind closed doors.

A report by Adult Services Portfolio Holder, Cllr Stephen Hayes (Independent – Montgomery), on Living Care Framework will be the first item held in private.

The second item, is on Extra Care Housing.

The agenda indicates that Cllr Hayes will be joined by finance portfolio holder, Aled Davies (Conservative – Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant), Highways, Recycling and Assets portfolio holder Cllr Phyl Davies (Conservative – Blaen Hafren) and Corporate Governance, Housing and Public Protection Cllr James Evans (Conservative – Gwernyfed) will be briefing the committee on the item.

Monitoring officer Clive Pinney says that these items are exempt because: he views that the information disclosed relates to the “financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Mr Pinney advises that: “These factors outweigh the public interest in disclosing this information.

“Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting.”

The Local Democracy Service has asked for more detailed reasons why the items should be discussed in private session.

Committee clerk, Lisa Richards, said: “The items have been recommended as confidential by the service as they contain information which is commercially sensitive.

“The view of the monitoring officer in reviewing this is that applying the public interest test, the need to maintain confidentiality far outweighs the public interest in the reports hence the recommendation to the committee to consider these items as confidential matters.

“The committee will need to take account of the monitoring officer’s advice when deciding  how to deal with these reports.”