Day: 18 December 2012

Planning Committee (Wirral Council) bans filming again

Labour ban filming again at Planning Committee (Wirral Council) 18th December 2012

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Planning Committee bans filming again on 6:5 vote.

Present:
Cllr Bernie Mooney (Chair)
Cllr Eddie Boult
Cllr Stuart Kelly
Cllr Brian Kenny
Cllr Denise Realey
Cllr Joe Walsh
Cllr Paul Hayes
Cllr Steve Foulkes
Cllr David Elderton

Planning Committee started late, due to a discussion between myself and Surjit Tour about whether to film the meeting. He tried to persuade me not to. Needless to say I didn’t agree and stuck to the NUJ Code of Conduct which states “At all times upholds and defends the principle of media freedom, the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed”. The following notice of motion (agreed the evening before) was given as the rationale as to why the Planning Committee meeting of the 18th December 2012 should censor any filming. Personally I believe this breaches my article 10 rights on Freedom of expression.

ARTICLE 10
Freedom of expression
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

Despite the notice of motion (below) stating the complete opposite to what was agreed at Planning Committee, councillors refused to even bring up the notice of motion on the screen and read it before voting.

Proposed by Councillor Bill Davies
Seconded by Councillor Moira McLaughlin

Delete everything and replace with the following:

(1) Council notes that the Administration has not banned the public from being able to attend and film at meetings.

(2) The issue of filming is under review. The Acting Director of Law, Human Resources & Asset Management has been asked to look at how a balance can be struck between maintaining openness and transparency and addressing concerns among some members about what safeguards can be put in place on how video recordings might be used.

(3) Council notes that the wider issue of the Council streaming its committee meetings is being considered by the cross-party members Equipment Steering Group.

(4) Council asks for the outcome of the review to be presented to the Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee for detailed consideration.

I discussed this with a Labour councillor after the meeting. He said that one of his councillors had tried to film their grandchildren’s nativity play at a school and been stopped by school staff. This guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office entitled “Data Protection Good Practice Note Taking Photographs in Schools” shows this was incorrect.

The same councillor also stated that if he took a photo of me and put it on a website, he could be accused of bullying under the Members Code of Conduct. I really don’t mind if people take a photo of me though, I’m not as camera shy as the Labour councillors are! He then went on to state they have more important things to think about like the 2013/2014 Budget.

Wirral Council (Council, 17th December 2012): Christmas Omnishambles Edition Part 1

Part 1 of a report of the Wirral Council meeting of the 17th December 2012: Christmas Omnishambles edition

I feel obliged to write about the complete omnishambles that public meetings at Wirral Council are becoming. If it was a one-off I wouldn’t mind, but this isn’t the first time something similar has happened and points to a worrying officer culture developing at Wirral Council. Wirral Council officers at last night’s public meeting were given instructions from above in keeping the hordes* out of last night’s public meeting of the Council.

*Hordes refers to both the press & public (that is someone who is not a current Wirral Council councillor or officer). I was tempted considering the thought processes of senior officers to use the word pleb instead of horde.

I hope whoever is reading this understands that I write about this first because it affected a large number of the press and public and shows how Wirral Council treat people (that is fellow human beings with rights!*) in a depersonalised way similar to cattle. Whether the “orders from above” came from councillor or officer or both just shows how people are treated by Wirral Council and needs to be put in the public domain.

*A list of human rights is provided in the ground floor lobby on the wall, although you’d need X-ray eyes to read it as its mostly obscured by a potted plant.

A little bit of background first, the Council meeting just before Christmas traditionally tends to be one where the Mayor organises something involving children performing. Just picking one from past Council meetings at random (2009, when Cllr Hodson was Mayor) there was a girl singing in Chinese. This happened during the public meeting (which last night was supposed to be) during Mayor’s Communications and made it more enjoyable for those present.

Last night’s public meeting was supposed to start at 6.15 p.m. (here’s the agenda sheet). If you want further proof of this just look at the Mayor’s Diary.

Prior to the meeting starting the Mayor (or someone from the Mayor’s office) had invited children from nearby St Georges Primary School, Wallasey to sing Christmas carols. Accompanying the children were about twenty-five parents and grandparents who’d come along to hear them sing. They’d been asked to turn up to the Town Hall well in advance of the meeting so the children could get the tour of the Town Hall. Whilst this was happening the parents and grandparents were ushered up to the public gallery.

Myself and Leonora (my wife) also went up at this point, partly as she was getting a reaction to a cleaning product used incorrectly on the hard floor in the lobby as she didn’t have her mask.

Prior to going up to the public gallery I was asked by a Wirral Council officer (and agreed) not to film the children singing, as a courtesy I said yes (this is partly due to commercial reasons). The last time I agreed to such a request was the Youth Parliament public meeting of the 9th October 2012.

The first warning sign came when happily sitting in the public gallery at about 6.15pm a Wirral Council officer came up to the row behind me and asked me (and Leonora) to leave on the basis the public meeting was a “private meeting”. I told him what I thought of it (basically it isn’t) and the guy told me not to “shoot the messenger”. After all (and this is me reading between the lines) when you’re one of the thousands of Wirral Council officers that’s been issued with an “at risk of redundancy” letter you’re unlikely to refuse an instruction from your line manager (or indeed senior management) when you’ve got a family to support and management will decide who gets made redundant. This is why it is very rare at Wirral for a officer to refuse a request of a councillor or management.

So we were both escorted from the public gallery to the Round Room, where hundreds of people were being “kettled”** by a number of Wirral Council officers in high vis jackets in the Round Room and Civic Hall to prevent them being at the public meeting. Sadly this resulted in my wife having a transient ischaemic attack (mini-stroke) due to further exposure to the chemical. Wirral Council officers were quoted as being “too busy” to offer any first aid.

** see earlier comment on human rights

For more on this night you can read Liam Murphy’s piece in the Liverpool Echo or Stephanie’s piece in the Wirral Globe. BBC Radio Merseyside was also there to cover the protest.