To consider and approve a revised draft of a Protocol for Filming of Public meetings as recommended by the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group, 13 February 2018. 

Further to Minute 15 of the meeting of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group held on 13 February 2018, the Committee received a recommended draft Protocol for Webcasting, Filming and Recording of Council Meetings.  Further to the submitted draft Protocol, the Committee was asked to note the references to ‘public meetings’ in paragraphs 15, 17 and 18 should be amended and read as ‘meetings held in public’.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the Council was moving towards the webcasting of meetings and it was appropriate for the Council to have a policy in relation to the recording of meetings.  To date the Council had relied on the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) guidance; this had been enhanced and the draft Protocol was now presented for adoption.  The Chair confirmed that the Protocol had been considered by the Working Group and recommended as now submitted to the Committee for adoption.

The Chair, noting that Mr J. Brace had submitted written questions in respect of this item and received answers prior to the meeting, permitted Mr Brace an opportunity to address the Committee.

Mr Brace addressed the Committee, commenting that while the proposal was very different to the current Policy, there had been no consultation with the media or public on the revised Protocol.  He noted a major change to be the introduction of a designated area for public filming and queried who would decide where this area was to be, would there be a sufficient area identified, and would chairs be provided.  Mr Brace asked the Committee that if a person took a photograph on a mobile phone in the public area, would they be asked to move, and queried whether anyone had complained of problems hearing meetings in progress as he struggled at times due to other noises in the room. 

Content relating to filming and exclusion from the meeting at paragraph 15 of the draft Protocol was highlighted.  It was queried as to what constituted disruptive behaviour, it being suggested that the Council had legal powers only to suppress disorderly behaviour, and whether the Council Constitution would need amendment. 

Further to his comments regarding control of the meeting and consultation, Mr Brace asked the Committee to consider the withdrawal of the second sentence of paragraph 15 in the draft Protocol; this sentence referred to the designated area.

Councillor Gilchrist noted that whoever filmed and wherever they were sat, all members of the public should have full sight of the meeting process.  Further, there were times when committee rooms were full and there was a need to be clear on safety grounds for everybody’s protection.

On matters raised, the Monitoring Officer commented on the DCLG guidance that noted recording equipment might not be left in the room where a private meeting is held and that those undertaking recording activities must not act in a disruptive manner, which could result in their being excluded from the meeting.  This meant that the Council could require that equipment was not left unattended and be removed when a meeting went into private session, and that the Council could reasonably ask that filming was not disruptive or distractive to the meeting.

In response to a query from Councillor Blakeley seeking a practical consideration of where a designated area might be in the Committee’s meeting room in the event of it being full, the Monitoring Officer commented that considerations could include the use of a tripod, as at the current meeting, as potentially disruptive, and that the person filming might be asked to use one leg of the tripod only or to hand hold their camera. 

RESOLVED: 

That the Protocol for Webcasting, Filming and Recording of Council Meetings, as submitted and amended by references to ‘public meetings’ in paragraphs 15, 17 and 18 being read as ‘meetings held in public’, be approved.