Councillor James Robb has called on the Chief Executive of Argyll & Bute Council to accede to the requests from parent groups to allow audio recording of the consultation meetings being held on potential school closures.
Commenting on the Council’s current refusal to allow this, Councillor Robb says: ‘There is no council decision or statute that forbids the recording of council meetings.
‘It would seem to me to allow a verbatim record to be kept is the sensible option in what are, after all, public meetings.
‘It is within the Chief Executive’s power to make this happen and it could only be seen as a positive and constructive move by the council.
‘This should not be seen as a precedent but rather as an expedient giving the deluge of criticism the council faces over its potential school closures.
‘The matter of whether we should, in principle, allow the recording of all public council meetings is something on which I will seek support to bring a motion to the council in June.’
It is indicative of the paranoid defensiveness that so corrodes Argyll and Bute Council that public information systems other local authorities use as a matter of course are regarded with suspicion and vetoed.
This is no more than a matter of routine best practice. There is no acceptable defence for not removing the veto.
Councillor Robb’s raising of the issue – and focusing on the immediate imperative of absolute transparency in every aspect of the troubled school closures consultation process – is constructive and well timed.
It doesn’t have to be a big issue. It just has to be done.
There is no justifiable reason, other than public embarrassment and revealing ill prepared officers, for the Council to refuse the recording of these meetings.
When something as critical to communities as schools are under threat unadulterated transparency is paramount and there is an inherent reluctance in A&B Council to deliver that.
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This amazes me. If the Council and Councillors are all acting with honesty and transparency, what exactly do they have to fear about meetings being recorded? In this day and age, with modern technology being so readily available there is no excuse. Perhaps this is how this council have got away with not having accountability for so long?
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As Newsroom says
“It doesn’t have to be a big issue. It just has to be done.”
and it’s the same with a web-cam for ALL council meetings.
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Surely under disability legislation audio & braille should be available for those requiring information automatically.
A&B spend a fortune on road signs which no doubt the majority of folk think quaint but can’t read. How many languages do the council disseminate communications at the moment?
Providing audio should be available for ALL COUNCIL PUBLIC meetings ensuring that those how wish to follow what is happening can.
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Scunnered: ‘Argyll & Bute spend a fortune on road signs’ -do they really?
One of my most abiding impressions (not new, and not limited to A&B)is the number of spectacularly and permanently grubby signs adorning our roads, how this reduces their visibility – especially at night – and must make visitors wonder what sort of country this is – all fur coat and no knickers, perhaps? How much would it cost to employ one or two people to drive around with a bucket and long handled mops and brushes to keep signs presentable?
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How about asking the Prisons Service (or whoever organises it) to get those signs cleaned as part of someone’s Community Service?
Back to the subject though. With the schools closures, you have 2 different communities, perhaps 10 miles apart or more. Elderly, disabled and just ordinary people who cannot attend their Public Meetings through ill-health, childcare reasons…
With internet broadcasting, it would be a simple enough matter to have these meetings broadcast over the internet and available to the general public. It is afterall, a public meeting and should therefore be available to all. Is it not the council’s obligation to ensure that it is?
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Short answer – someone attending should take in recording equipment and record the proceedings, what ever the ruling.
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To Gerry: I agree. If the Council try to prevent recording of the consultation meetings then everyone present should just raise their mobile phones and start to record the proceedings. What can they do?
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Perhaps another suggestion…. CCTV. We are filmed in public all the time, without giving our permission. This is a public meeting….
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Class ideas
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