Minutes:
The Executive had considered a notice of motion submitted by Councillor Kirby which had proposed that recordings of public meetings of the Council should be made available indefinitely, rather than the current twelve months. The Executive had taken into account the provisions within the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the few occasions on which requests for old recordings had been received, and had drawn up an amended Motion as follows:
“Easy access to Council recordings
This Council resolves that all video recordings of public meetings of Council and its Committees will continue to be made available for public viewing on demand in accordance with the Council’s retention periods. The Council shall continue to keep its retention periods under review with particular regard being given to information held in respect of the Council’s long-term projects.
Archive recordings of all previously public meetings of Council and Council Committees will also be made available on request wherever this is legally and technically possible. The Council shall ensure that residents are fully informed as to how they can access these recordings and that access to this information is available in a quick and simple manner.”
Councillor Kirby, however, considered that recordings should be made available longer through the Council’s website and moved the following amendment, seconded by Councillor Barker:
The following be added to the wording proposed by the Executive:
“In addition, this Council resolves that the current practice of making recordings of public meetings available by request on DVD format after one year be replaced with a continuation of availability online.
Council resolves that the online platform for viewing meetings be extended up to an ideal time of four years as soon as technically possible.”
The Members debated the amendment and the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, Joanne McIntosh, provided advice on the implications for retaining data for any period of time. In view of the lack of clarity on the GDPR implications and the unknown costs of retaining recordings on the Council’s website for an additional three years, Councillor Azad moved and Councillor Ashall seconded a proposal to defer consideration of the notice of motion to the next business meeting of Council to allow time for Officers to explore the legal and financial implications.
In accordance with Standing Order 10.8 the names of Members voting for and against the proposal to defer consideration were recorded.
In favour: Councillors S Ashall, A Azad, J Brown, K Davis, S Dorsett, G Elson, D Harlow, S Hussain, C Kemp, N Martin, R Mohammed, C Rana and M Whitehand.
Total in favour: 13
Against: Councillors M Ali, T Aziz, A-M Barker, A Boote, W Forster, D Hughes, I Johnson, A Kirby, R Leach, L Morales, E Nicholson, M I Raja, D Roberts and J Sanderson.
Total against: 14.
Present not voting: The Mayor, Councillor Lyons.
Total present not voting: 1
The proposal to defer was therefore lost by 13 votes in favour to 14 votes against and the Council returned to the Notice of Motion as amended by the Executive and the amendment proposed by Councillor Kirby.
Following further debate on the implications of the motion as proposed and additional advice from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, the Council moved to the vote. In view of the concerns over the GDPR implications, Councillor Barker suggested the addition of the following words: “subject to appropriate guidelines being adhered to.” The Mayor made clear, however, that, were the Council to pass a motion which was not legally actionable it would not be implemented.
In accordance with Standing Order 10.8 the names of Members voting for and against the proposal to defer consideration were recorded.
In favour: Councillors M Ali, S Ashall, T Aziz, A-M Barker, A Boote, G Elson, W Forster, D Hughes, I Johnson, C Kemp, A Kirby, R Leach, L Morales, E Nicholson, M I Raja, D Roberts and J Sanderson.
Total in favour: 17
Against: None
Total against: 0
Present not voting: The Mayor, Councillor Lyons, and Councillors A Azad, J Brown, K Davis, S Dorsett, D Harlow, S Hussain, N Martin, R Mohammed, C Rana and M Whitehand.
Total present not voting: 11
The Motion, as amended by the Executive and Councillor Kirby, was therefore carried by 17 votes in favour to no votes against.
RESOLVED
That the Motion, as amended below, be supported.
“Easy access to Council recordings
This Council resolves that all video recordings of public meetings of Council and its Committees will continue to be made available for public viewing on demand in accordance with the Council’s retention periods. The Council shall continue to keep its retention periods under review with particular regard being given to information held in respect of the Council’s long-term projects.
Archive recordings of all previously public meetings of Council and Council Committees will also be made available on request wherever this is legally and technically possible. The Council shall ensure that residents are fully informed as to how they can access these recordings and that access to this information is available in a quick and simple manner.
In addition, this Council resolves that the current practice of making recordings of public meetings available by request on DVD format after one year be replaced with a continuation of availability online.
Council resolves that the online platform for viewing meetings be extended up to an ideal time of four years as soon as technically possible.”