County Council meetings televised on internet

Feb 8 2010 By Matt Lewis

Surrey County Council leader Dr Andrew Povey

Surrey County Council is to stream a live feed of its full council meeting on the internet tomorrow in an bid to become more accountable.

Its February 9 Full Council meeting will be the first to be broadcast online, enabling residents to follow debates and decisions involving their local representatives without having to physically attend the public gallery.

The move fulfils a promise by council leader Dr Andrew Povey to 'webcast council meetings' in a speech last October.

Councillor Povey said: "I am committed to increasing openness and transparency and webcasting is an ideal way of doing this while getting more people involved in the workings of the council.

“We would expect to have between 15 and 20 residents in the public gallery at full council meetings but people have busy lives and most don't have time to come to County Hall."

Webcasts will initially be restricted to full council meetings, but will be extended to cabinet, planning, and regulatory committee meetings in the next few months.

The first webcast will start at 10:30am on Tuesday with the budget and council tax on the agenda. A recorded version will also be available to view within 24 hours.

People wishing to view the latest meeting should go to the council’s new Webcasts page. Archived footage of past meetings will also be accessible from this page, once the system is in place.