Stanton under Bardon Parish Council is committed to being open and transparent in the way it conducts its decision making and this policy sets out the rules surrounding the filming and recording of Council meetings.

The right to record, film and to broadcast meetings of the Council meetings was established under the Openness of Local Government Regulations 2014. This is in addition to the rights of the press and public to attend these meetings. However the right of the Parish Council to exclude the press and public from parts of Council meetings remains unaffected.

 

RULES AND PROCEDURE

 

1. The Council will display the requirements as to filming, recording and broadcasting and on its website and those undertaking these activities will be deemed to have accepted them whether they have read them or not.

2. Any person wishing to record a meeting in any format whatsoever must contact the Clerk prior to the start of the meeting. The Clerk’s details are set out in the public notice and agenda of the meeting. In their absence, contact should be made to the Chairman of the Parish Council.

3. The Council will define an area from which recording may be carried out and, if given advance notice, will strive to ensure that reasonable facilities are made available to any person wishing to record, e.g. provision of a table. However the physical layout of a room may restrict the Council’s ability to make any provision.

4. The Council prefers that all visual recording will be undertaken from a static point to avoid disruption at the meeting.

5. A person or persons recording the Council meeting are reminded that the “Public Participation” period does not form part of the formal meeting and that they should take legal advice for themselves as to their rights to make any recording during that period.

6. Where the press and public are excluded from a meeting or part of a meeting owing to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the recording of that meeting or that part of the meeting will not be permitted.

7. Any children or young people under the age of 18 who are present at the meeting are not to be filmed unless their parents/guardians have given their written consent. This provision also applies to vulnerable adults, whereby the consent of a responsible adult is required for recording, i.e. a medical professional, carer or legal guardian.

8. All those recording a meeting are requested to focus only on recording councillors, officers, those members of the public who have not requested anonymity or have not been identified as under the age of 18 or a vulnerable adult.

9. The Council may, at its own discretion, require members of the public who do not consent to being recorded to sit separately from those who are content to be recorded.

10. All recording must be overt (i.e. clearly visible to anyone at the meeting).

11. Members of the pubic are permitted to film or record meetings to which they are permitted access in a nondisruptive manner. The use of digital and social media recording tools, for example Twitter, blogging or audio recording are allowed as long as this type of recording is carried out in a non-disruptive way and only to the extent that it does not interfere with any person’s ability, even where he or she has a disability, to follow the debate.

12. A person or persons making a recording has no right to interrupt a Council meeting by asking questions or making comments. The person recording has no right to ask councillors, officers or any members of the public who have been given permission to contribute orally to the meeting to repeat a statement for the purposes of the recording.

13. The Chairman of the meeting has absolute discretion to stop or suspend recording if, in his/her opinion, continuing to do so would prejudice proceedings at the meeting or if the person recording is in breach of these rules.

14. The recording and reporting on meetings of the Council is subject to the law and it is the responsibility of those doing the recording and reporting to ensure compliance. This will include the Human Rights Act, the Data Protection Act and the laws of libel and defamation. The recording should not be edited in a way that could lead to misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the proceedings or infringement of the council’s/parish meeting’s values or in a way that ridicules or shows a lack of respect for those in the recording. The Council would expect any recording in breach of these rules to be removed from public view.

15. The Council is not liable for the actions of any person making a recording at a council meeting which identifies a member of the public or for any publication of that recording.

16. The minutes of the Council meeting remain the statutory and legally binding formal record of council decisions.