Webcasting Of Council Meetings To Be Discussed ‘This Year’

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles will today publish a new guide for local people explaining how they can attend and report their local council meetings.

New guidance explicitly states that Councils should allow the public to film council meetings, a practise that is not allowed in Wrexham Council despite rule changes this year to open up reporting.

The new ‘Your councils cabinet how-to guide’ (PDF) gives practical information for the public to attend meetings of a council’s executive and how to obtain council documents. The Government has changed the law to allow citizens to report, blog, tweet and film council meetings in England. It also outlines the assorted rights that taxpayers’ have to access council papers and documents.

However, many councils across the country are still refusing to allow people to film public council meetings. The new guidance explicitly states that councillors and council officers can be filmed at council meetings, and corrects misconceptions that the Data Protection Act somehow prohibits this.

The Health and Safety Executive has also shot down the suggestion that ‘health and safety ‘regulations’ also bar filming, which Wirral Council used to justify a filming ban last year.

However these new rules do not apply to Wales, as they have not been introduced by the Welsh Government who have devolved responsibility.

Eric Pickles has today challenged Welsh Ministers to introduce the new rights in Wales too.

Eric Pickles said “I want to stand up for the rights of journalists and taxpayers to scrutinise and challenge decisions of the state. Data protection rules or health and safety should not be used to suppress reporting or a healthy dose of criticism.

“Modern technology has created a new cadre of bloggers and hyper-local journalists, and councils should open their digital doors and not cling to analogue interpretations of council rules.

“Councillors shouldn’t be shy about the public seeing the good work they do in championing local communities and local interests.

“I challenge the Welsh Government to give taxpayers in Wales the same rights as those in England now have, and stop the scandal of free speech being suppressed in Wales’ town halls.”

Wrexham Council told Wrexham.com “We are currently exploring a number of options regarding the webcasting of council meetings in the future. These options will go before the council later this year.”

A month ago we wrote how although the Council have made changes to what is and is not allowed, the opportunity was missed to open the meetings to all regardless of technology.

(To learn what the above picture is of, read this article!)