8.—(1) The Board may establish committees.
(2) Any such committee—
(a) must not include the chair of the Board;
(b) may include members who are not members of the Board.
9.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Board may—
(a) determine its own procedure (including quorum); and
(b) determine the procedure (including quorum) of any of its committees.
(2) On any vote by the Board the chair has an additional, casting vote in the event of a tie.
10.—(1) The validity of any proceedings of the Board shall not be affected—
(a) by a vacancy amongst the council members or independent members; or
(b) by a defect in the appointment or any disqualification of a person as a council member or independent member.
(2) The validity of any proceedings of the Board shall not be affected—
(a) by a vacancy in the office of chair, or
(b) by a defect in the appointment or any disqualification of a person as chair,
if those proceedings are conducted with the consent of the Secretary of State.
(3) The Secretary of State may, before granting such consent, require a chair to be appointed for the purposes of those proceedings from amongst either the council members or the independent members as the Secretary of State shall determine.
11.—(1) The Board must establish and maintain a system for the declaration and registration of private interests of its members.
(2) A member of the Board must immediately disclose any direct or indirect interest in any matter proposed or discussed by the Board.
(3) The disclosure must be recorded in the minutes of the Board.
(4) A member who is directly interested in any matter may not take part in any discussions or decisions of the Board.
(5) But if the Mayor and the London councils consider that the number of members directly interested in any matter is such as to impede the transaction of business, the Mayor and the London councils may agree to direct the Board that the restriction imposed by paragraph (4) does not apply; and the direction must be in writing and may be subject to such conditions as the Mayor and the London councils consider necessary.
(6) Nothing in this article precludes a member from taking part in the consideration or discussion of, or voting on, any question whether an application should be made to the Mayor and the London councils for the exercise of the power conferred by paragraph (5).
(7) Any reference in this article to the Board includes any committee of the Board.
12. The Board may authorise any of the following to exercise, on its behalf, such of its functions, in such circumstances, as it may determine—
(a) the chair or any other member of the Board;
(b) a committee of the Board; or
(c) an employee appointed under article 13.
13. The Board may appoint such employees as it determines, and may pay to them such remuneration and other allowances, and make such provision for pensions, as it determines.
14.—(1) For each financial year, the Board must—
(a) prepare an annual report on how it has discharged its functions during the year; and
(b) send a copy of the report to the London borough councils, the Common Council and the Secretary of State.
(2) In this article, “financial year” means—
(a) the period beginning with the day on which the Board is established and ending with the next 31st March; and
(b) each subsequent period of 12 months ending with 31st March.
15.—(1) The Board must, by 31st March each year, prepare and publish a document setting out how it will meet its objectives in the following 12 month period, including—
(a) its priorities for that period; and
(b) its strategy for the provision of financial assistance to any person during that period for the purposes of—
(i) the provision of facilities for or in connection with the collection, treatment or disposal of waste produced in Greater London;
(ii) conducting research into new technologies or techniques for the collection, treatment or disposal of waste; or
(iii) securing, or assisting in securing, the performance of any function of a London borough council or the Common Council relating to waste.
(2) If the Board wishes to provide financial assistance to any person for any of the purposes in paragraph (1)(b) before 1st April 2009, it must, before doing so, prepare and publish a document containing the information in paragraph (1) for the period to 1st April 2009.
16. The Board must provide the Secretary of State with such information as the Secretary of State requires relating to the discharge or proposed discharge of the Board’s functions.
17.—(1) The Board must make the following available for inspection by the public, free of charge, at all reasonable times—
(a) the document referred to in article 15;
(b) annual reports of the Board;
(c) approved minutes of Board and committee meetings;
(d) details of the remuneration of Board members;
(e) a list of Board and committee members;
(f) the register of Board and committee members’ interests;
(g) the dates of Board meetings and the agendas for those meetings.
(2) Any person who requests it must be provided with a copy of, or extract from, any document in paragraph (1) on payment of a reasonable charge.
18.—(1) A meeting of the Board must be open to the public.
This is subject to paragraphs (2) and (3).
(2) The Board must exclude the public from a meeting during an item of business if, during that item, confidential information may be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence.
(3) The Board may exclude the public from a meeting during an item of business if, during that item, any of the following information may be disclosed to the public and the Board considers that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in preventing disclosure of the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the information—
(a) information relating to any individual;
(b) information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual;
(c) information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person;
(d) commercially sensitive information;
(e) information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any employment matter arising between the Board and any employee; or
(f) information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.
(4) In this article, “confidential information” means—
(a) information provided to the Board by a Government department upon terms that prohibit the disclosure of the information to the public, and
(b) information that may not be disclosed to the public by virtue of any enactment, rule of law or order of the court,
and, in each case, the reference to the obligation of confidence is to be construed accordingly.
(5) This article is without prejudice to any power of exclusion to suppress or prevent disorderly conduct or other misbehaviour at a meeting.
(6) Any reference in this article to the Board includes any committee of the Board.