Agenda item

5.1

Public Question in respect of Review of Council Meetings

5.1.1

Nigel Slack referred to a report considered at the Cabinet Meeting on 16 May in respect of ‘Changes to Full Council Meetings’. He asked a number of questions in respect of the following:-

The Cross Party Working Group

How many Members were on the Group?

What was the party political proportionality of the Group?

Did the Group endorse these changes unanimously?

If not, what was the ratio of support?

Public Participation

In the 2017/18 civic year, what were the average attendances in the Council Meetings starting at 2pm? (April to September)

What were the average attendances in the Council Meetings starting at 5pm? (September to March)

Will the Council be monitoring the attendance at Council Meetings from this point on for further comparison?

Consultation

Apart from the consultation carried out within political parties the report states a questionnaire was available to the public at the October 2017 meeting. How many public responses were received from this questionnaire and what were the results?

Recording and Webcasting

Mr Slack commented that the report mentioned this as an area for consideration, despite Mr Slack and others calling for this step to be taken since 2012. The report appeared to suggest that only “progressing audio/video recording of meetings and access to the recordings” is on the working group’s agenda.

Mr Slack therefore asked will this include live streaming of the meetings on the internet?

Fully indexed archive access?

Live interactive functions?

Which meetings will be considered?

5.1.2

The Deputy Chair (Councillor Olivia Blake) commented that a written response would be provided to Mr Slack’s question.

5.2

Public Question in respect of Pre-Election Rules on Publicity (PERP)

5.2.1

Nigel Slack commented that just prior to the local election on 3 May he drew to the attention of the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council the potential for a breach of PERP by two Councillors who chose to get involved in a Facebook argument over an issue on which they had been decision makers during the PERP period. Mr Slack stated that he would have hoped that, with their age and experience, they would have been more careful about their actions since, for Mr Slack, the comments appeared to be a clear attempt to disparage a Councillor’s reputation for political and therefore electoral advantage.

5.2.2

The issue for Mr Slack was whether they used technology provided by the Council for business matters, to make these comments on social media. That would constitute a breach of PERP. It was common to see Councillors on social media during Council Meetings and the origin of the technology they were using was unclear. What guidance was given to Councillors on the use of Council technology? How often was this refreshed? How was the use of Council technology monitored?

5.2.3

Councillor Olivia Blake reported that a written response would be provided to Mr Slack in respect of this question.