Lib Dems Urge Greater Freedom For Public Questions

More needs to be done to allow local residents to call the council to account claim Liberal Democrat councillors.

At Wednesdays meeting of Full Council Lib Dems called for council meetings to be made more public friendly by removing the extensive notice periods for people wanting to ask questions of the Mayor or members of his Cabinet. Currently anyone wishing to ask a question at the meeting must give notice at least two working days before the meeting. More draconian plans have now been put forward which mean three working days notice must be given which in reality is likely to mean almost a week with Full council meetings falling on a Wednesday. Lib Dems believe this is totally unacceptable and a step in the wrong direction if more members of the public are to be encouraged to participate in council meetings and accountability increased.

Cllr David Sawyer who put forward the Lib Dem proposal, said:

" It is important that more people feel able to get involved in the councils business and that the Mayor and his cabinet are fully accountable to them. These are the people making decisions on behalf of the borough and people should have every opportunity to make sure they are happy with the way they are working for them. Making the process for public involvement in council meetings more cumbersome is clearly a step in the wrong direction. If you miss the deadline for questions to be submitted it maybe weeks before the whole council meets again and the opportunity rearises. I called for an end to the period of notice for council questions. This would make council meetings more accessible. By removing this notice period people can ask upto the minute, pertinent questions as the need arises. No one would be turned away because of a lack of notice."

ENDS