(1) COVID-19 is a world changing event like the wars. It has accelerated a move towards greater remote interaction. Whilst some will continue to prefer āin personā attendance, I feel that the ability to continue attending remotely increases accessibility, especially for those who find it difficult to be physically present for whatever reason; and
(2) recorded sessions are not only help increase transparency, they are invaluable to the history of the area.
Accordingly, I would be a strong advocate for both.
Alexander Culley
Reform UK candidate for Eastleigh North (Hampshire County Council) and Eastleigh Central (Eastleigh Borough Council)
This simply isnāt an option unfortunately. The Government has written to councils saving that primary legislation is required for local councils to use online meetings past 7 May and they arenāt prepared to do this. The LGA is lobbying hard because Thai is a crazy situation itās too early and not everyone has been vaccinated. Online meetings has increased the chances of the public watching meetings - very few have opted to speak. They are all recorded I get the signal when the events go live. I have a copy of the letter but canāt seem to put it here on my phone as the wrong format. Happy to email it.
Interesting - seems bizarre. Wonder what the reason isā¦?
A bit like hoping everyone will be overjoyed to get on packed trains to London just so they can send some emails from their desk which they could have done from home!
Should we be writing to ask Paul Holmes, our MP on this?
My original points/questions still stand though - would you support them? I accept my āovercome obstaclesā point applies more to the first statement. Iāll amend it and clarify.
Me too, it is very odd. I suspect its seen as a way to ākick start the economyā, and āreturn to normalā (go and buy a train ticket, buy a coffee en-route, buy lunch out, etc). Very old fashioned as Iād prefer not to return to normal and take advantage of some of the positives to come from covid, rather than just the negative.
haha! With respect @Sam4eastleigh, those questions and answers are vague as ābetterā could depend on your perspective and taken either way, itās why I asked the specific.
Iād heard that the gov wasnāt extending powers to hold online meetings (Jackie Weaver definitely doesnāt have authority to do that) but Iām not sure whether that would prevent the public attending remotely:
Finally, while you do have a legal obligation to ensure that the members of the public can
access most of your meetings, I would encourage you to continue to provide remote access
to minimise the need for the public to attend meetings physically until at least 21 June, at
which point it is anticipated that all restrictions on indoor gatherings will have been lifted in
line with the Roadmap. However, it is for individual local authorities to satisfy themselves that
they have met the requirements for public access.
I seem to remember Hampshire Council streaming and recording meetings long before the pandemic, so it would be good if Eastleigh could do the same, and perhaps the smaller councils as well.
Also, I have a feeling the government are being a tad misleading about needing primary legislation. The rules mentioned in the letter look to me like a statutory instrument which basically just needed a Minister to put in place, so I canāt see any reason why at least parts of the provisions couldnāt be extended the same way. Obviously I am not an MP though so maybe theyāre being honest for a change.
Iāve also enabled PDF uploads so next time you can upload such a document yourself.
I have a couple of questions:
Are you in support of the current arrangement of council meetings being remotely accessible to the public, recorded and uploaded to YouTube continuing into the future, and would you continue to support this if re-elected?
Can you confirm if Eastleigh Borough Council will continue its current approach until at least the 21st June, as quoted from the better by @jtonline above?
Yes I support it. The recording and viewing of meeting was done through MS Teams - this isnāt the right platform for live in person meetings - it would need a proper camera and sound etc - I didnāt know if these items are available. But will ask.
Awesome thanks! Iāve seen large meetings at KCC (Kings Community Church) before which had a good audio setup, and piped an āokā video and audio to other rooms. It would be possible to record this with a small cheap bit of tech. The more perfect solution of course would be a separate video stream per councillor - though admittedly that would likely be more costly and complex to setup.
Sadly, I would not hold the power to ensure that meetings were recorded but I would certainly support the movement and push for it to be implemented. We have to recognise that there are plenty of people who wish to engage with council meetings but are unable to attend these timed meetings due to other commitments in their busy lives. Whether you are a shift worker or are caring for family or busy doing other important things that have to take priority, the ability to watch the meetings back at a convenient time is very useful. If we want community engagement, which I believe is vital to ensure that all members of the community are represented fairly, treated with due respect and hold the Councillors to the highest standards of public behaviour, then we have to make the meetings as accessible as possible.
