Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Eric and Margaret come up trumps!!!
Just saw this item - link is here: http://www.publicsectorexecutive.com//News/pickles-extends-right-to...
Good luck to all the bloggers and local community reporters. It makes for much healthier local democracy. What a pity it's had to come from Eric Pickles and Margaret Thatcher.
Zena Brabazon
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Pickles extends ‘right to report’
Local government secretary Eric Pickles has passed a Parliamentary order allowing the press and public to film and digitally report from all public meetings of local government bodies.
The new ‘right to report’ law builds on Margaret Thatcher’s Private Members’ Bill from 1960, which allowed for the written reporting of council meetings by the press.
Following the passage of both primary and secondary legislation, the new law will apply to all public meetings, including town and parish councils and fire and rescue authorities.
It also aims to end ‘active resistance’ amongst some councils to greater openness, with some local authorities in the past having called the police to arrest people who tried to report, tweet or film council meetings.
Pickles said: “Half a century ago, Margaret Thatcher championed a new law to allow the press to make written reports of council meetings. We have updated her analogue law for a digital age.
“Local democracy needs local journalists and bloggers to report and scrutinise the work of their council, and increasingly, people read their news via digital media. The new ‘right to report’ goes hand in hand with our work to stop unfair state competition from municipal newspapers - together defending the independent free press.
“There is now no excuse for any council not to allow these new rights.”
The Openness of Local Government Regulations 2014, which apply to England, give rights to members of the press and public to use modern technology and communication methods such as filming, audio-recording, blogging and tweeting to report the proceedings of the meetings of their councils and other local government bodies; and to see information relating to significant decisions made outside meetings by officers acting under a general or specific delegated power.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Pickles for PM....
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Be very careful what you wish for John. Interesting to see if they extend this to all Parliamentary business.
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Interesting point. The parliamentary order seems to simply add new recording tools to those meetings that are already open to the public so, at those meeting you can go into and where you can take written notes, you can also record them in audio, film or electronically. It doesn't seem to extend the meaning of public meeting so my guess is that if they are closed to the general public it won't make one jot of difference,
What would be more useful I think would be legislation that makes all meetings open public meetings and those that are not to be public are by exception and that the decision to have them closed can be challenged (through an ombudsman I suppose). Adoption panels would be a good example of a justifiable exception.
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A real down side of this has actually occurred to me. Most of the major decision making bodies are broadcast by a lot of authorities anyway. Imagine you were at planning committee to object to an application for something and the developer was siting there, snapping away and posting on Facebook or whatever "This is Mrs Soandso, the woman who is trying to have you evicted from your homes by opposing my application to get a lawful development certificate for the HMO you are desperate to remain living in". Just because you are not the decision maker doesn't mean you can't be filmed too.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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" What a pity it's had to come from Eric Pickles and Margaret Thatcher ".
Why Zena ? Is a good thing not a good thing wherever it comes from ?
Are you so prejudiced that anything from Conservative sources is irretrievably tainted whatever its merits ?
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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To be fair John I think Zena has welcomed the fact that Mags and Eric have done us a favour, and I saw her comment as more of a resigned sigh that this was not done earlier by Labour, who should have been at the front off bringing democracy into the 21st century.
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Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon on
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Hi John
Justin's right. I never thought I would have a positive word to say about Margaret Thatcher but to be fair it sounds like she introduced pro-democratic legislation now being extended by - of all people -Eric Pickles. As Labour was in power for so long it should have been on their agenda. Of course, they brought in the Freedom of Information Act but I read somewhere that Tony Blair regretted it. Can't think why.
Zena Brabazon
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Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on
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LOL! I got told off for taking a selfie in the Civic Centre recently. I am so going back to take pics of everything now...
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Well it will be good not to have to leave my cameras at the door. Never felt safe doing that.
Video that follows the speaker and reactions etc will be more useful than the static camera that shows half a room. But will they let tripods in? Nothing worse than wobbly video.
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