Lib Dems Demand Council Opens up to Public Participation

The Liberal Democrats are demanding that Bedford Borough Council opens up to local residents by allowing Members of the Public to question Councillors at public meetings without providing written notice of the question in the previous week.

The Lib Dems' proposal to remove the requirement the public to submit questions by the Friday in the week prior to meetings of the Council did not receive the backing of the last meeting of the Council's Implementation Executive due to Conservative opposition. The Implementation Executive did support the Lib Dems' call for the notice period to be removed for Councillors' questions, with this proposal going forward to tonight's full council meeting for adoption. At the meeting the Lib Dems will press the Council to give Members of the Public the same rights to question their elected representatives as those which are due to be given to Councillors.

Commenting on the issue, Liberal Democrat Councillor Tim Hill said: "With a new Council, we have an opportunity to open up these dusty corridors to the public once again. Removing the ludicrous notice period required for questions from the public at Council meetings would be a good start. Public participation is clearly discouraged by the requirement for questions to be submitted, in writing, in the week before meetings. The retention of this barrier between the Council and the residents to whom it is accountable suggests either that the Mayor or his Cabinet Members cannot be trusted to give coherent answers or that they might have something to hide. Neither is an acceptable reason for restricting the public's right to question elected Councillors.'

Liberal Democrat Deputy Group Leader Cllr David Sawyer added: "With Councillors quite rightly set to be given the opportunity to question the Mayor and his Cabinet Members without notice, it would be unacceptable for local residents to be denied the same right. It all serves to give the impression that the Council wants to maintain a 'them and us' approach to the people it is supposed to serve. The Conservatives have already shown their contempt for the idea of making it easier for the public to question their representatives by voting against our proposal once. We will continue to fight against this arrogant attitude and hope it is defeated at tonight's meeting."