- Change theme
Sheffield Council Meetings Online?
The Lib Dems and the Green Party are calling for Sheffield Council meetings to be broadcast live on the internet to ensure transparency.
21:33 14 March 2018
Politicians want Sheffield Council to follow the footsteps of Rotherham, Leeds and Manchester by broadcasting council meetings live on the internet to ensure transparency. The Lib Dems and the Green Party say that it is crucial for democracy and public scrutiny.
The leader of Sheffield Lib Dems, Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, said: “People can’t always attend meetings and this would allow them to watch from home or their workplace. “Sometimes we have very busy meetings and the public gallery is full so again this would allow everyone to watch the meeting. We estimate setting up a webcast system would cost around £30,000 which is not a huge amount of money to ensure transparency.”
Coun Robert Murphy, deputy leader of Sheffield Green Party, said that it is ridiculous that the council has refused to broadcast their meetings despite numerous requests from the public. He said: “South Yorkshire Pension Authority webcast its meetings and each one would get around 100 views. It’s absolutely ridiculously this isn’t happening, especially when the Town Hall already has a PA system.”