IT on the agenda
Lib Dem councillors Thomas Prag and Angela have a motion up for discussion at the full Council meeting of 8 March 2008 to have Council and Committee meetings webcast.
Interestingly, at the same time Angela Maclean has been refused permission to come in to the meeting by video conference from her current location of Barcelona, Spain. So she won’t be able to speak in favour of her own motion then. A press release making her displeasure clear has been issued (no 2 below).
Press releases follow:
PRESS RELEASE No 1 – WEBCASTS
LIB DEMS PRESS FOR COUNCIL MEETING WEBCASTS
– MOVE TO EXPLOIT I.T. FOR GREATER PUBLIC SCRUTINY
Highland Liberal Democrats today commented on their forthcoming Motion to full Council this Thursday 6th March, pressing for webcasting and archiving of Council proceedings.
Councillor Thomas Prag, proposing, said: “We are submitting this Motion in a bid to open up Council proceedings to the wider public.
“While the public are of course welcome to attend meetings of the full Council and Strategic Committees, Liberal Democrats believe the Council ought to be pushing this voluntarily, to signal that as a corporate body we are fully transparent and accountable to the public whom we serve.”
“It’s not just apathy,” he says, “it’s also because for most people getting to Inverness is inconvenient and we all have busy lives.
“It would mean that people could keep in touch with particular items that interest them from their own homes or offices without having to sit through a whole meeting only to find it is deferred or nodded through without discussion.
“Webcasting council proceedings would also serve the council’s own officers better. Officials often sit through long discussions waiting for their own item when they might be more productive keeping in touch with meetings from their offices before attending at the appropriate time.”
Given recent public concerns surrounding the political process, Cllr. Prag added, it is “only correct that not only do we discharge our duties with integrity, that we are also seen to be doing so.
“Opening our debates and voting records in the chamber not just to the Highland public, but also worldwide, will serve as testimony to our commitment to an open and accountable Council, responsible to our electors – and also bring our Council in to line with other authorities in the UK, such as neighbouring Moray.
“Such a public record – either live via webstreaming or via an archiving facility – will also ensure consistency between comments within the chamber and comments outwith.
ENDS
Note to Editors:
1. For further information, please contact Cllr. Thomas Prag via 07785 552295
2. Full text of the Notice of Motion submitted by Cllr. Prag reads as follows:
“That the Highland Council recognises the importance of public accountability and engagement with the community; Council agrees that full use will be made of existing facilities to ensure full Council, Strategic Committees and other public committee meetings held in the Chamber are made available live via web-streaming on the Council’s website and that recordings of these meetings are made available via an easily accessible archive.”
PRESS RELEASE No 2 – Remote participation
INDEPENDENT/SNP ADMINISTRATION “BLOCKING DEMOCRATIC DUTIES”
– BID FOR COUNCILLOR TO PARTICIPATE IN COUNCIL REJECTED
HIGHLAND LIBERAL Democrats today slammed the ruling Independent/SNP Administration for refusing to permit the registered attendance, participation and voting of an elected Member in the next full Council meeting.Following a request to the Convener to permit participation in the full Council on Thursday 6th March, Cllr. Sandy Park – in consultation with other senior SNP and Independent Members – rejected the move to allow Cllr. Angela MacLean to participate via video-conference link from Barcelona, Spain.Cllr. MacLean said: “While I may be away, I see no reason why the Convener has rejected the request for me to do my duty as a councillor.
“There is provision in existing legislation to enable remote participation for councillors if they cannot attend Council meetings – be they in the Highlands or elsewhere.
“While we as a party organised for a partner institution in Spain to link to the Inverness HQ at minimal cost, the Independents and SNP seem content to stop me discharging my duties of office, despite the fact that the I.T. facilities are in place, the regulations are in place and, if rolled out on a regular basis available for all Members, this would even save Council funds on Members expenses, for mileage, refreshments and accommodation.
“I was elected to serve my ward constituents and I am willing and able to do this whilst temporarily away from the Highlands. This move to block my formal attendance and voting is undemocratic and does little to assuage mounting public concerns that the ruling coalition Administration is closing ranks when it comes to public debate and scrutiny by elected Members,” concluded Cllr. MacLean.
ENDS
Note to Editors:
1. For further information, please contact Matthew Maguire via 07957 425118.
2. The statutory provision is detailed in Section 8 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003, which reads as follows:
SECTION 8
43 Remote participation in and calling of local authority meetings
(1) The meetings of a local authority and its committees, including joint committees, and sub-committees thereof may (as well as being conducted in the way in which they have been conducted before the commencement of this section, that is to say, by all members being present together in a pre-determined place) be conducted in any other way in which each member is enabled to participate although not present with others in such a place.
(2) A meeting shall be conducted by virtue of subsection (1) above, however, only on the direction of the convener, whom failing, the deputy convener of the authority, committee or, as the case may be, sub-committee.
(3) Schedule 7 (meetings and proceedings of local authorities) to the 1973 Act has effect in relation to meetings so conducted as if—
(a) paragraph 1(3) (place of meetings) and the reference in paragraph 2(1)(a) to the place of an intended meeting were omitted; and
(b) the references in paragraphs 3 to 7 and 10 to the presence of members were references to their participation in a meeting so conducted.
(4) In paragraph 2 of that Schedule, in each of sub-paragraphs (1)(b) and (2)(b), the words “by post” are repealed.