Issue - meetings

The Committee received a report from the Assistant Chief Executive regarding proposed amendments to the Constitution Part 4A Appendix F(A) – Protocol and Media Relations.

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

      i.         Asked if it was necessary to delete as much as was proposed out of the Media Relations Protocol.

    ii.         Asked if Appendix B would be incorporated within the Constitution or if it was the process that the City Council would follow.

   iii.         Asked if level of information which was currently guaranteed by the Constitution for Opposition Councillors would be safeguarded by the changes.

  iv.         Asked why the title about filming council meetings had been changed. 

The Assistant Chief Executive said the following in response to Members’ questions:

      i.         The current Media Relations Protocol was outdated and too prescriptive.

    ii.         Appendix B was for information and would not be incorporated within the Constitution. 

   iii.         The parts relating to impartiality would remain. Member involvement in press releases would be largely unchanged. The intention behind the proposed changes was to give more responsibility to the Communications Teams.

  iv.         The title about filming council meetings had been changed to reflect the information which would be left in the Constitution. 

Resolved (by 5 votes to 1):

i.      To recommend to Council that sections 1-3 of Part 4A Appendix F(A) of the constitution be deleted, as illustrated in Appendix A of the officer’s report.