Off the air
A PLEDGE to broadcast council meetings live has been ‘kicked into touch’ by the ruling coalition, according to opposition councillors.
A PLEDGE to broadcast council meetings live has been ‘kicked into touch indefinitely’ by the ruling coalition, according to opposition SNP councillors.
The SNP group made the claim after losing a vote in Kilmory council chamber last Thursday.
However, Argyll and Bute Council stated an amendment, which passed 18 votes to 11, ‘agreed to explore the possibility of live broadcasting council meetings, with the next step being to report the costs involved to a future meeting’.
The original motion, moved by SNP councillors Julie McKenzie and Gordon Blair before the full council meeting on September 28, argued the region’s geography can prohibit residents attending council meetings, and that ‘live broadcasting of meetings would open the council’s decision-making process to improved transparency and democratic scrutiny, while making it accessible for many more residents’.
It cited a ‘petition calling for the live broadcasting of all council and committee meetings signed by 1,117 members of the public and 15 of Argyll and Bute’s elected members’, and added that ‘the IT infrastructure required to facilitate webcasting from the council chamber was installed at Kilmory in 2013’.
The council agreed to cost and facilitate the broadcasting of all full council and committee meetings at Kilmory, with a financial report due in November, and of area committees, with an assessment due by March 31, 2018.
An amendment, moved by councillors Kieron Green (Ind) and Ellen Morton (LD), noted agreement ‘to investigate how to make the workings of the council more transparent through improved communication at all levels’, but added officers ‘should bring back to a future meeting of the council confirmation of the capital and revenue costs involved in live broadcasting meetings held in the chamber, and expanding this functionality to all venues used by area committees’. The amendment received 18 votes, overturning the motion’s 11 votes.
The opposition SNP group accused Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Independent councillors of voting ‘to quash any chance of this initiative being taken forward by putting forward an amendment with no plan or timeframe’.
Councillor McKenzie accused them of kicking the proposal ‘into touch for an indefinite period of time’, and other councillors of an ‘inexplicable U-turn’ after they campaigned on that pledge.
Councillor Blair added: ‘There was absolutely no need to present an amendment. The opportunity for live broadcasting from the chamber has been possible since 2013.
‘Following the behaviour we witnessed in the chamber, it’s quite clear why they are so desperate to prohibit live cameras. The concerted bleating about budgetary restraints ensures this issue will disappear without trace.’
Councillor Green responded: ‘I’m certainly not questioning the right of people to hear what happens at meetings but broadcasting costs must be balanced against the provision of council services.
‘I would rather be able to keep a school open, be able to provide care packages and fix potholes than know we have failed to deliver something because significant resources were required for broadcasting and they were used there instead.
‘Officers need time to investigate this fully to make sure we have the right solution, that it can work for committees across the whole of Argyll and be accessible to everyone.
‘I would rather that than a bodge which doesn’t meet people’s expectations.’