A dispute has erupted over Gateshead Council's Women and Girls committee, which will now meet only in closed session, prompting calls for greater transparency.
Council communications seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service confirm that the advisory committee will hold all future meetings behind closed doors, with no agendas published. The correspondence states the decision followed a “review of the Committee’s role and remit”.
Opposition Calls for Open Meetings
The move has angered opposition councillors, who are urging the decision to be reversed. Nick Allan, leader of the council's Reform administration, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the decision came from officers' recommendations, not the ruling party.
Liberal Democrat councillor for Low Fell, Dawn Welsh, said: “Gateshead’s women and girls committee was set up to give women and girls a stronger voice on issues that affect their lives, from domestic abuse and safety in public spaces to health inequalities and barriers to employment. Closing every meeting and taking agendas offline shuts residents out of discussions that affect them directly.
“We have to ask ourselves why Reform wants to conduct this vital public business behind closed doors? What do they think residents shouldn’t be allowed to see? What are they trying to hide?”
Councillor Welsh said she has written to the council's monitoring officer to ask who authorised the decision and on what legal basis, and called for the committee to reopen to the public until those questions are answered.
“Women and girls make up over half of the population of Gateshead, over 100,000 residents. Our voices deserve to be heard in public, and we refuse to be silenced behind closed doors,” she added.
Labour and Green Criticism
Councillor Kathryn Henderson, deputy leader of the Labour Group, said: “At a time when Reform should be demonstrating openness and accountability, they are doing precisely the opposite. Women and girls deserve to know what is being discussed about their safety. There may occasionally be sensitive issues that need private discussion, but that is no excuse for shutting the public out altogether.
“Why does a committee dealing with women’s safety suddenly need to operate in secret? Women and girls deserve transparency, not closed doors.”
The council's Green Party group stated: “The news that the Women and Girls committee is to be held in private means as Greens we would be blind to what happens on this committee. What is the Reform administration afraid of, and why are they so concerned about transparency and accountability?”
Committee Background and Leader's Response
The committee was established following a full council decision on February 20, 2025, as a formal advisory body. Its founding documents say it was designed to “consider a range of proposals across the whole of the council’s policy framework to tackle gender inequality and to make positive contributions…” to the authority's plans and functions.
Councillor Nick Allan, leader of Gateshead Council, said: “The decision to close the committee was on the recommendation of officers. It was not, I repeat, not, a decision made by the Reform administration. It followed a Women and Girls committee meeting where the committee and members of the public got out of hand.
“So they approached the administration, saying that it would be better for the meeting and its members if it were a closed session to which people could be invited. It was then suggested to the administration, and we went along with that.
“The chief legal officer has written to Fiona Pearce [Deputy leader of the council and vice-chair of the committee] to say that, on reflection, it might have been too hasty and the decision may be reviewed, which we would be completely fine with.”
Gateshead Council was approached for comment.
