Councillors say ‘no good reason’ for not live streaming most meetings

They have raised concerns that not all of the meetings of the new North Yorkshire Council, which is headquartered in Northallerton, may be broadcast online leading to concerns about transparency and accountability.

Councillors have also said that live streaming meetings could mean less travel over long distances, especially for members representing coastal areas.

Most councils started to live stream their meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic and Scarborough Council continued the practice with almost all of its meetings available to watch online.

Meetings of the new authority’s executive, full council, area planning, and licensing meetings will still be broadcast, according to Cllr David Chance, the executive member for corporate services.

However, Cllr Chance has said that other meetings will be live streamed “when there is a strong public interest or where there are facilities in place”.

Among those calling for most council meetings to be live streamed is Cllr John Ritchie, who is set to be chosen as the charter mayor of Scarborough next week.

“There can be no good reason for not live streaming the majority of our meetings other than technical capability”, said Cllr Ritchie.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “North Yorkshire Council has made a great deal of its intention to remain local when it comes to its delivery of services; surely that must mean allowing residents to play a central role in our local democracy.

“We need to give residents the confidence to trust us when it comes to our decision-making.”

Cllr Chance, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for corporate services, said: “We are committed to ensuring that the new North Yorkshire Council has local communities at its heart, despite serving such a vast area across the county.”

“The online streaming of council meetings has been an important way of making sure that access is available as widely as possible to both councillors and members of the public.

“Meetings of full council and the executive will be routinely streamed online, and we will continue to record and broadcast planning and licensing meetings that were previously overseen by district and borough councils.

“We will consider broadcasting or recording other meetings when there is a strong public interest or where there are facilities in place that enable it to be readily done”.

Councillors have also said that live streaming of meetings would make attendance at meetings more “convenient” amid long travel distances in North Yorkshire, the largest county in England.

Cllr Rich Maw said: “It is disappointing that the provision to live stream other meetings is currently only to be a consideration.

“Scarborough Council was able to record and broadcast most of its meetings which, for me, meant that I could catch up on cabinet meetings etc when it was convenient rather than having to take time off work.”

Cllr Maw added: “Meetings should be broadcast to residents – it is both good for democracy and also for the environment.”

Member of the executive, Cllr Chance added: “We are currently carrying out a review of all our council offices, and indeed other venues used to ascertain what resources are needed to improve provision in those areas, where it is lacking.

“Where the facilities exist to live stream area constituency meetings, as in Scarborough, we will do so.

“We are reviewing what is possible and practicable regarding the recording and broadcasting of meetings, taking into account the facilities which are available across the county, the IT and democratic support that is needed as well as investment in IT infrastructure.”

Speaking to the LDRS, Cllr Janet Jefferson said: “I’m a big supporter of live streaming meetings because we did an awful lot of this during Covid and I think it is the way forward with getting people involved.”

“You have to make people aware of what is happening locally and I think it is a good way of doing that,” she added.