• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS

New rules to enshrine the right to report local council meetings

June 30, 2014 by Martin Hoscik

Social media users and photography are already welcome at London’s City Hall.
Social media users and photography are already welcome at London’s City Hall.
Draft regulations enshrining the right of media and local residents to report, tweet and blog about council and local authority meetings have been published by ministers.

The rules, which are subject to approval by Parliament, are the latest move by the government to ensure greater transparency and enhance the accountability of local decision makers.

A number of councils and their staff have blocked local and online media from reporting meetings. In some cases both health and safety and data protection laws have been incorrectly cited to defend the decision.

Ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government have previously published guidance confirming the right to attend and report council meetings.

Local government minister Brandon Lewis last week suggested that the new rules would tackle those councils which are “dragging their feet” and failing to embrace transparency.

Once the regulations are approved, all councils will be reminded of their duty “to provide reasonable facilities to the free press (including print media, film crews, hyper-local journalists and bloggers) in a way that still allows for the orderly conduct of a meeting.”

Anyone attending a meeting will be free to use “use any communication method, including the internet,” to report on it.

The government’s draft rules make it clear that “it is a legal duty for the local government body to follow the new provisions” and that a council’s own rules or Standing Orders cannot remove or limit the ability to report or record a meeting.

In addition to admitting the media, the rules will require councils and other local government bodies to publish a ‘decision record’ listing significant decisions which have been taken by staff acting under delegated authority.

A number of local authorities, including the Greater London Authority, already publish such lists which make it easier for local taxpayers and voters to understand how decisions affecting them are made.

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email

Filed Under: News

RECENT UPDATES

Tube and rail users to benefit from Oyster weekly fares cap

Mayor and TfL call on ministers to help plug funding gap

Tube to get full mobile phone coverage from 2024

TfL says Direct Vision Standard is already making HGVs safer for London road users




POPULAR

City Hall to move to Docklands as Mayor seeks to raise £55m for frontline services

‘Concern’ over TfL’s ability to deliver major projects in wake of Crossrail cost overruns

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

Copyright © 2025 · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy