Live streaming of Council meetings

This is a copy of the speech I gave in support of a motion put forward by Labour Councillors to live stream Council meetings. The motion was defeated - all but one Tory Councillor voted against it. I'm going to continue to promote the idea - if anyone has any additional information, contacts, thoughts and comments that might help, please do let me know. Thanks.

Motion to Full Council

27 February 2014

In its vision to 'Develop a better District', this Council commits to communicating honestly and openly with customers and colleagues at all times.

The live broadcast of public meetings would significantly enhance the Council's ability to achieve this.

This Council therefore resolves to enable live broadcast of public meetings within the next six months.

Last night I watched a Telford and Wrekin Council Budget Meeting on Youtube. I was the 304^th person to do this. Then I watched a Council meeting from Wakefield. I lead a quiet life...

415 people had watched the Wakefield Council meeting live, as it happened. A further 312 had watched it on the free digital broadcast platform Bambuser.

As is often the case at our own Council, only a handful of local residents attended the meetings in person.

The quality of both broadcasts was good; not perfect, but good. Councillors were clearly identified, camera work was simple but effective, the audio was clear.

The investment made by both Councils to make this happen was in the low hundreds.

Wakefield Council used a Samsung Galaxy Camera and an i-Rig mic and tripod. Telford and Wrekin used a iPhone with an i-rig mic and tripod. The meeting was simultaneously tweeted.

Both Councils worked in partnership with local experts – bloggers, community website editors – to make the live streaming happen. The partnerships are strong and evolving. Other events are now planned, including a 'Question time' for Councillors to respond to residents' concerns live. Because the technology is transportable, the Councils aren't limited by where and when they can use it.

We must all recognise that the internet is where significant numbers – not all, but significant numbers - of people get their information these days. 60 per cent of adults have a smartphone, 80 per cent of homes have internet access.

We must also accept that we often struggle to engage people in local democracy. The average turnout at the local elections in this District in 2012 was 31 per cent: nothing to be proud of. The average attendance by members of the public at public meetings held in this Chamber is low. And I don't think we should be feeling proud that 113 people took part in a District-wide consultation on our strategic plan.

Live streaming Council meetings isn't a cure-all. It will be of absolutely no interest to some people.

Nevertheless, live streaming offers us a cheap and effective way to get more people more involved in the democratic process. It makes us more visible as individual Councillors, and more accountable as a Council. It will give people the chance to understand how decisions that affect their daily lives are reached.

And as our budget shrinks and the services we provide become more vulnerable, how we communicate these decisions is more important than ever.

Daventry District Council has over 3,000 followers on Twitter, and over 600 on Facebook. We are in a good position to take this motion forward. I propose that we do so by identifying potential partners to help us develop the low-cost and low-tech approach to live streaming taken by Telford and Wrekin and Wakefield councils, and by increasing numbers of other local authorities. We might approach local schools and businesses, or the University of Northampton. We could engage the services of volunteers or establish a social enterprise. The opportunities are out there...

Eric Pickles, who I rarely quote with any enthusiasm, has called on councils to 'open their digital doors'. He's also said 'Councillors shouldn't be shy about the public seeing the good work they do in championing local communities and local interests'.

So, I call on members not to shy. Make a commitment to live stream our public meetings; and do it soon so that we can be ready for Democracy Week in October.

The Kindness of Strangers

Here in Braunston we're setting up a Timebank. 

 

The idea is that Braunston has its own mini volunteer-economy based on time.  You volunteer your time, skills and energy and take advantage of the time skills and energy of other people in return. For every hour that you give you earn an hour of someone else’s time - which you can use, keep in the bank until you need it or donate to someone who you think needs it more than you. 

The brilliant thing is that everyone’s time is worth the same whether you are offering computing help, form-filling, gardening or cooking and there is nobody who need simply receive “charity” without putting something back in to the scheme.

I think it will strengthen the ties that bind us together. After all, many of us are already sharing our time and skills to support the people and places local to us. Some run clubs and events, share meals, give lifts…. Two local residents have just helped a group of young people restore the abandoned BMX track at Braunston Playing Field.

And then there’s the paediatric nurse who gives up his free time to hold baby weigh-ins at Braunston Toddler Club (itself run by volunteers) after cuts hit local health visitors. 

And if you call an ambulance, the first person on the scene could well be a Community First Responder, a local volunteer who has been given training by the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

Meanwhile Adam Simmonds, our Police and Crime Commissioner, is recruiting 1,000 volunteers to "fight crime and create a visible presence" as part of a special constabulary.

I visited Daventry Foodbank last week. In 2010 they helped 100 people from across the district.  Last year it was over 500, and they are expecting that figure to rise considerably in 2013. The foodbank is run by volunteers and dependent on donations of food. 

If you’re after advice on books, or a kids’ storytime session at Daventry Library you’ll rely on volunteers: cuts have left only a handful of professional staff.

It seems to me that here is a big difference between getting involved in your local community and replacing vital public services with volunteers. Is a society reliant on the kindness of strangers safe or sustainable? Will we end up patching up our own potholes?

Braunston Youth Club will fold soon unless adult volunteers come forward to help. The area youth worker has offered her support but as she has the entire district to cover, her role is limited.

So, I’m joining BraunstonTimebank. But I’m also fighting for our local public services – our ambulance station, our PCSOs, our libraries, hospitals and youth services. I hope you will too.

The Bedroom Tax

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard a Tory Councillor ask a Council Officer or housing provider to confirm that a constituent in social housing with a spare bedroom really will have to pay more to stay in their home, or else move out. 

When the officer confirms that this is indeed Government policy, the Councillors shake their heads, roll their eyes and generally give every impression of being in opposition…

A number of Tory MPs have written to local Councils in their constituencies ruing the impact of the Bedroom Tax on local residents. 

That’s despite all of them having voted for the Bedroom Tax when it went through parliament last year, and voted against amendments which would have exempted people from the penalty until suitable alternative accommodation is available. 

In fact only two Conservative MPs voted in favour of these amendments. Our own MP, Mr Chris Heaton Harris, was not one of them. 

It’s a tad late to wake up to the impact of this perverse policy. In just over a week’s time, 13,000 millionaires are getting a tax cut worth £100,000 a year on average. And 660,000 impoverished households, including many families with young children, already hit hard by the cuts, have to find an extra £728 a year on average.

In Daventry District between 600 and 700 households will be directly affected.

The majority of those affected nationally have only one spare bedroom. Only 10 per cent of social tenants under-occupy, compared with 16 per cent of private tenants and 49 per cent of owner-occupiers.  This includes, of course, Welfare Minister, Lord Freud, with his eight bedroom mansion.

The Bedroom Tax is both immoral and unworkable.

It’s immoral because we’re not going to solve the housing crisis by shunting people around like pawns in a political chess game. 

And it’s unworkable because there isn’t the housing stock to support the policy. Over 300,000 people are on social housing waiting lists in the East Midlands region – that’s one in every 15 households. There are over 2,500 people on the housing waiting list in Daventry District itself.

The Bedroom Tax is also a massive transfer of financial risk to social landlords and a (very) thinly veiled attack on social housing.

Last week’s budget presented an opportunity to kickstart a major programme of capital investment in new affordable homes. An opportunity totally missed.

I’ve proposed that Daventry District Council holds an affordable housing summit to consider urgently how we can increase affordable housing provision locally.  

Protests against the Bedroom Tax have taken place in 60 towns and cities and another 50 are planned for this Saturday (30 March), including one in Northampton, starting 1pm at The Guildhall. 

You can sign-up to a campaign to stop the Bedroom Tax here.

I’ll be at the march and I’ve signed the petition. I hope you might too.

Happy Mothers' Day?

I’m the mother of a seven year old and a five year old. Like many other women, I’m looking forward to Mothers’ Day tomorrow. I’m hoping for breakfast in bed, and homemade cards and cake, and hugs a-plenty.

But this Mothers' Day sees family life across Britain more precious and more vulnerable than ever. Women have been hit hardest by the Tory-led coalition’s financial policies. Three times as hard as men, in fact. 

And in a few weeks’ time, David Cameron is giving millionaires a tax cut worth an average £100,000.  As some 85% of higher rate taxpayers are men, many more of them will gain from the policy than women. At the same time, Cameron is asking mothers to pay more. Cuts to maternity pay in real terms amount to a £180 tax which is coming out of mothers’ pockets, just as family budgets are being stretched more than ever.

David Cameron promised to lead the most family friendly government ever. It’s difficult to feel the love, I must say. Here’s a reminder of just how family-friendly he has been: 

x   Cutting child benefit for 1.2 million families

x   Scrapping the £190 Health in Pregnancy Grant

x   Scrapping the Child Trust Fund

x   Freezing child benefit payments for three years

x   Cutting maternity pay in real terms

x   Closing 401 Sure Start Children’s Centres.

Women are the biggest users of public services, all being eroded; they are more likely to be affected by public sector job losses (we make up around two-thirds of the public sector workforce) and more likely to be hit by the unprecedented cuts in welfare benefits: around three-quarters of the money being cut is coming from women’s pockets. 

A recent survey found that, as a result of reduced incomes, one in five mums are missing meals so their children can eat. Women’s unemployment now stands at 1.07 million – the highest level in 25 years.

Let’s look back and remember what Labour did in government:

✓ Increased maternity leave from 18 weeks to nine months

✓ Doubled maternity pay

✓ Opened 3,500 Sure Start Children’s Centres

✓ Introduced Child Tax Credits.

We all know times are tough. But it’s precisely at times like this that families need a government that is on their side, not one that asks mothers to pay more and millionaires to pay less.