Oakham and Rutland Local News

Oakham and Rutland Local News
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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Uppingham Town Council, Consider, Tweeting and Filming at Council Meetings

Uppingham Town Council has written to the Mercury in response to the newspaper’s enquiry about tweeting live from council meetings.

http://www.rutland-times.co.uk/news/local/uppingham-town-council-to-consider-live-tweets-1-5397861

Town clerk Susan Awcock wrote “The council is forward thinking and likes to embrace new technology, but at the moment standing orders prohibit recording and filming.”

However two councillors have been appointed to look into the pros and cons of tweeting and filming at meetings.

The councillors will seek advice from the National Association of Local Councils, which is due to publish guidelines for town councils later this year, and present the findings to the council in October.

The results will be published later in the year.

This is a U turn for the clerk who told the local paper back in June allowing tweeting was "a dangerous path to take."

The problem is Clerks often forget it is not their role to speak to the media without the authority of the
full council.

This was I believe a one off for Uppingham.

It has been a  more frequent occurrence with Oakham Town Council, like a lot of senior council staff in our county they sometimes forget they don't own the councils they are employed by and their role is to serve the council and the public.