Proposed by Councillor Ball

Seconded by Councillor James

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the following motion (No 7 10/11) was submitted by Councillor Ball and seconded by Councillor James.

 

ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF SPEECH AND THE MAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHIC / VIDEO IMAGES

 

Plymouth City Council meetings are formal gatherings of elected Members supported by officers and witnessed by the public in accordance with the laws that govern the local authority democratic process in England. Such meetings should be conducted in a serious and businesslike manner.

 

The constitution holds that Members will, “be the ultimate policy-makers and carry out a number of strategic and corporate management functions” and one of the ten general principles for those who act on behalf of the public is that, “Members should promote and support these principles by leadership, and by example, and should act in a way that secures or preserves public confidence”.  Using mobile devices during any formal meeting is a breach of good manners, discourteous to others in attendance and a hindrance to good decision making?

 

Current practice is that the electronic recording of speech and the making of photographic/video images (other than by the Council) is prohibited at formal meetings. 

 

I therefore move that this Council:

 

1.	Enforces the ban of the electronic recording of speech and the making of photographic/video images (including by mobile phones) (other than by the Council) and a) places notices to this effect prominently within meeting rooms in the Council House and b) includes this information in all meeting agendas.
2.	Requires the Lord Mayor,Leader and Committee Chairs to insist that any device that is capable of transmitting and receiving voice and text messages must be turned off during all Plymouth City Council’s formal meetings (Exceptionally, the Lord Mayor or a Committee Chair may allow the recording of speech and photography.)
3.	Allows the Lord Mayor, Leader and Committee Chairs to exercise discretion for Members and other attendees who are “on call” for family, health or business reasons and allow their personal mobile phones to be switched to “silent” and placed clearly on display. Any subsequent calls or messages must be made or taken outside the meeting room.   Note: Members who are “on call” should formally request this of the Lord Mayor, Leader or Committee Chairs at the start of a meeting.
4.	Instructs the monitoring officer to amend the constitution to give effect to this resolution.

 

Councillor Ball, whilst moving the motion for approval, sought to make some amendments in order to clarify the proposal.  The Assistant Director for Democracy and Governance advised that the action of Councillor Ball was in order.

 

Following objections, the Lord Mayor adjourned the meeting to take advice.

 

Following the adjournment, Councillor Ball moved the motion, as submitted (as above) and the motion was seconded by Councillor James.

 

Councillor Fox submitted an amendment to paragraph 3 to delete the following words -

 

‘and placed clearly on display’ and

 

‘Note: Members who are “on call” should formally request this of the Lord Mayor, Leader or Committee Chairs at the start of a meeting.’

 

The amendment was seconded by Councillor Reynolds and following a vote the amendment was carried and it was Agreed. 

 

Councillor Evans moved a further amendment as follows -

 

Delete all from the start of paragraph 2 to ‘meeting’ at the end of item 3.

 

Insert

This unnecessary motion is a waste of time and it is not Howes! It is a Ball’s.

 

Renumber item 4 as item 1.  

 

The Lord Mayor adjourned the meeting to take advice on the proposed amendment.

 

Following the adjournment, the Lord Mayor indicated that the proposed amendment had been ruled out of order as it negated the motion.  

 

It was Agreed, following a request by Councillor Evans, that the ruling would be provided to him in writing.

 

Councillor Stevens submitted a further amendment as follows -

 

Delete “Using mobile devices during any formal meeting is a breach of good manners, discourteous to others in attendance and a hindrance to good decision making?”

Replace with “Making telephone calls during any formal meeting is a breach of good manners, discourteous to others in attendance and could be a distraction from the decision making process taking place”.

 

Add to the end to the third paragraph.  “This Council recognises that e-communications is a valuable tool in interacting with the public.  That it could potentially allow people, unable to attend the Council meeting in person, to listen to the issues discussed in Council, in their own home at a time convenient to them.  That the LGA and Local Government Improvement & Development Agency recognise as best practice councils and councillors who use webcasting, social media and the internet to communicate with the public.

 

That at present no transcript or recording of the council meeting is available to the public unless a specific request is made”.

 

Delete 1 and replace with:

 

(1)

“Investigates how the use of e-communications can be used to record the council meeting, with the aim of making our decision making processes as transparent as possible in accordance with best practice identified by the LGA and Local Government Improvement & Development Agency.  That until such recording are in place members of the council or public can apply to the Lord Mayor for permission to record the proceedings at full council”.

 

Delete the word “off” from 2 and replace with “to silent”.   Delete words in brackets at the end of point 2.

 

Add:

 

5.	Requires any attendees at Full Council/Committee/Panel meetings who wish to conduct conversations to do so outside the meeting room.

 

Delete “Note: Members who are “on call” should formally request this of the Lord Mayor, Leader or Committee Chairs at the start of a meeting.” From point 3.

 

The motion was seconded by Councillor Williams.

 

During the debate, it was suggested that the order of the agenda should have been revised so that the more important debates were at the top of the agenda.

 

Councillor Jordan also indicated that a discussion was needed on e communications but in another place. 

 

CouncillorRennie moved and Councillor Wildy seconded that the vote was taken.  Following a vote the motion was carried.

 

Following summing up by Councillor Stevens, the vote was taken on the amendment and the amendment was lost.

 

The debate continued on the main motion, as amended by Councillor Fox.

 

Following a vote, the motion, as amended, was carried and it was Agreed that this Council -   

 

1.	enforces the ban of the electronic recording of speech and the making of photographic/video images (including by mobile phones) (other than by the Council) and a) places notices to this effect prominently within meeting rooms in the Council House and b) includes this information in all meeting agendas;
2.	requires the Lord Mayor,Leader and Committee Chairs to insist that any device that is capable of transmitting and receiving voice and text messages must be turned off during all Plymouth City Council’s formal meetings (Exceptionally, the Lord Mayor or a Committee Chair may allow the recording of speech and photography.)
3.	allows the Lord Mayor, Leader and Committee Chairs to exercise discretion for Members and other attendees who are “on call” for family, health or business reasons and allow their personal mobile phones to be switched to “silent”. Any subsequent calls or messages must be made or taken outside the meeting room;
4.	instructs the monitoring officer to amend the constitution to give effect to this resolution.