Big Step Forward in Mayor and Lib Dems’ Drive to Open Up the Council

The radical drive by Mayor Dave Hodgson and Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats to open up Bedford Borough Council has made further progress, as the General Purposes Committee passed a proposal to remove the remaining restrictions on public questions at Full Council meetings.

Tonight this proposal goes forward as a recommendation for approval by the Full Council. It will give members of the public the same rights at Full Council as the councillors; no longer constrained to 6 questions, or a 30 minute time slot.

This decision follows the Lib Dems' success in removing the requirement for notice to be submitted for a question in the week prior to a Full Council meeting. The effect of the removal of that barrier by Mayor Dave and Lib Dems has been that public questions have gone from being an extremely rare occurrence to a regular feature of Council meetings.

Together, these decisions have made Bedford Borough Council among the most open and accountable councils in the country. The Lib Dems have consistently tried to open up the Council, and make local government more accountable to the residents of Bedford Borough. For example, two years ago the Council became one of the first in the country to begin publishing individual payments to suppliers online, while Mayor Dave introduced public oversight of any use by the Council of its surveillance powers.

Commenting following the meeting, Lib Dem Chair of the General Purposes Committee Cllr Henry Vann said: "We quite simply want to make it as easy as possible for local residents to hold their elected Councillors to account and to have their say. The Lib Dems have already achieved a string of successes in opening up the Council to further public scrutiny and engagement, and now we've taken a big step towards removing the remaining unfair obstacles to residents who take the time and trouble to come to Council meetings. We should be encouraging more and more people to take part and to engage with their Council if they wish, not retaining indefensible barriers to public involvement."

Mayor Dave Hodgson added: "How can it be right that the politicians can question each other all night long, while residents are turned away purely because six other people happened to want to ask a question at the same meeting? Removal of this unfair barrier is a common sense measure that will further open up the Council and make it more accountable to local residents, and I'm delighted it has moved a step closer."

Following a proposal from Cllr Vann, the General Purposes Committee is also set to consider options for the broadcasting of public meetings, as the Lib Dems' drive to make the Council as open and accountable to residents as possible continues.