Filming of Council Meetings

At the Economic & Environmental Scrutiny Committe meeting last Thursday, the idea to webcast council meetings was first discussed before a final decision is made in November.

I have long been an advocate of this as I believe this will open local democracy to many who find Full Council meetings unaccessible. The beauty of webcasting means that web surfers can watch broadcasts of Full Council either live or on demand from the comfort of their own home.

I also believe it will stop some members saying one thing in the council chamber and another to residents safely in the knowledge that the comments they make in the chamber are only viewed by one man and his dog and the SKIPP members that are usually present in the public gallery. By the looks on some of the members faces you could sense the nervousness that this wheeze could come to an end.

I know in times of austerity that any council spending comes under close scrutiny and rightly so, but can you put a price on democracy? I could understand the lukewarm reaction by the Economic & Environmental Scrutiny Committe if we were talking astronomical sums, but we are only talking a maximum of £20,000 per year, a small price to open up local democracy in Southend to thousands of people - especially when statistics show that more people watch council meetings live on line than attend in person in authorities that have webcasting.

The reaction by some of the committee members on these grounds seems absurd especially when they seemed happy to spend £66,000 on improving the audio equipment in the Council chamber. I do agree that the audio equipment is in desperate need of replacement but do not accept the logic of needing improved audio for the handful of people in the Council chamber and public gallery at Full Council at £66,000 but not spend the additional small sum to open up proceedings to a larger number of people.

With the Government last month giving members of the public the same privileges as the press allowing for potential live broadcasting on blogs and users of social media allowing for greater scrutiny and transparency, in my view webcasting will only enhance this.