THE idea that local government should be open to public scrutiny is one of the basic principles upon which it is based.

Unless the public knows what is being considered in their name they cannot play their proper part in the decision making process - it's as simple as that.

The law upholds the idea that in general the public, or their representatives in the form of the press, should be able to attend meetings unless there exceptional reasons like the discussion of disciplinary action against individuals or sensitive business issues like decisions on different bids for contracts.

Over the years some councils have interpreted this principle in different ways and come up with a lot of excuses for meeting in private away from the public gaze.

With the latest reorganisation of local government a couple of years ago, for example, Blackburn with Darwen Council and a handful of other Labour controlled councils initially announced that it was going to hold meetings of its new cabinet in private.

Later the government appeared to back the principle that cabinet meetings should be open and there was a change of heart for which this newspaper had pressed hard.

Now we hear that Hyndburn Council's Conservative group is calling for meetings of the authority's Policy Board, set up as part of last year's modernisation process, to be opened to the public.

The ruling Labour group counter that it was the Tories who set up the Board as they were in control when it was introduced and they allowed it to meet in private.

The Conservatives claim that the meetings are now discussing "lots of major issues that affect everybody" but somehow did not when they were in charge.

The answer surely is that these regularly arranged meetings should be open to the public now - and they should have been when the system was set up last year.