Issue - meetings

Public Engagement in the Democratic Process and Web-casting of Council meetings

Meeting: 11/04/2017 - Executive (Item 47)

47 Public Engagement in the Democratic Process and Webcasting pdf icon PDF 252 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Manager Democratic & Civic Support.

 

Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee considered the report at its meeting on 23 March 2017 and its comments will be reported.

 

Decision:

Agreed

 

 

That it is recommended that Council approve that:-

 

(1)       the current arrangements for the holding of all public meetings of the City Council be maintained;

 

(2)       that a simple trial for broadcasting some of the Council meetings be undertaken with a view to assessing the levels of take up and feedback for a report to a future meeting of this Committee;

 

(3)       the suggestion for a period of time for public questions to the Council Leader not be supported; and

 

(4)       the Corporate Manager, Democratic and Civic Support, work closely with the Director of Communications and Marketing to maximise publicity of the decision making process, including items on committee agenda as and when appropriate.

 

 

Reason for Decision:

 

As set out in the report.

 

Minutes:

The Corporate Manager Democratic & Civic Support presented the report setting out a response to the Notice of Motion which was passed by Council in February 2016 regarding encouraging greater public engagement in the democratic process and webcasting of Council meetings.

 

Members supported the proposals and welcomed the trial of the use of social media to broadcast some of the Councils meetings. Members felt that there were already mechanisms in place where residents could ask questions of the Council such as the opportunities to ask questions at Scrutiny Committees and Exeter Board.

 

Corporate Scrutiny Committee considered the report at its meeting on 23 March 2017 and its comments were reported including it support for the recommendations.

 

RECOMMENDED to Council that:-

 

(1)       the current arrangements for the holding of all public meetings of the City Council be maintained;

 

(2)       a simple trial for broadcasting some of the Council meetings be undertaken with a view to assessing the levels of take up and feedback for a report to a future meeting of this Committee;

 

(3)       the suggestion for a period of time for public questions to the Council Leader not be supported; and

 

(4)       the Corporate Manager, Democratic & Civic Support, work closely with the Director of Communications & Marketing to maximise publicity of the decision making process, including items on committee agenda as and when appropriate.

 


Meeting: 23/03/2017 - Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee (Item 16)

16 Public Engagement in the Democratic Process and Web-casting of Council meetings pdf icon PDF 252 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Manager Democratic Civic Support.

 

Minutes:

The Corporate Manager Democratic & Civic Support presented the report on greater public engagement in the democratic process and webcasting of Council meetings in response to the motion passed by Council in February 2016. He advised the motion had been divided into the following:

 

Meetings being held elsewhere

 

The Corporate Manager Democratic & Civic Support advised that all of the Council’s official meetings take place in the Civic Centre meeting rooms with Council meetings being held at the Guildhall. Both venues were setup to hold the meetings with appropriate equipment and capacity. It was rare to be unable to accommodate members of the public. A recent exception was at Extraordinary Council meeting held at the Guildhall which cannot incorporate the same numbers as the Civic Centre. He highlighted the Guildhall, the oldest municipal building in the country that was used for its original purpose for local government. Both the Civic Centre and Guildhall are based in the city centre and have excellent access to parking and public transport links.

 

He commented that the concept of holding meetings in other parts of the city was not unrealistic with the following matters having been taken into account:-

 

·         Finding suitable accommodation elsewhere (including the availability of all necessary equipment), including accessibility requirements;

·         Transportation of necessary equipment which may not be available at the venue (e.g. microphones);

·         Ensuring the appropriate public notice is given of the different location;

·         The costs associated with the hiring of the venues;

·         Staff time and costs in administering the booking of suitable venues, and ensuring their set up in time for the meetings themselves;

·         The availability of accommodation elsewhere up to 18 months ahead of the meeting itself – there is no guarantee that the accommodation booked, would be suitable for the meeting required by the time the meeting came to take place.

 

He explained there had been no call to hold meetings away from the Civic Centre or Guildhall and recommended to continue to hold meetings at these locations.

 

Broadcasting of meetings

 

The Corporate Manager Democratic & Civic Support advised that the Council does not currently broadcast its meetings and recognised that some facilities were being used by more local authorities. He confirmed there was public interest in broadcasting, so members of the public could be kept up to date with news and events, however there appeared to be little interest in Council Meetings.

 

Another issue was that the meeting rooms at the Civic Centre were not permanently setup for meetings and were used for other meetings. The Guildhall was a Grade 1 listed building which prevented the installation of fixed equipment.

 

The Corporate Manager Democratic & Civic Support recommended trialling a system such as Facebook Live for a six month period at public committee meetings.

 

Question time to the Leader of the Council at Council meetings

 

The Corporate Manager Democratic & Civic Support informed Members there was currently no opportunity for questions by members of the public to be asked to the Leader of the Council at full Council meetings and referred  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16