By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottingham City Council is planning to livestream its council meetings to improve public access to how it makes decisions.
The authority is one of the few Nottinghamshire councils that doesn’t routinely stream meetings online.
Most other authorities do so through their websites, YouTube or Microsoft Teams.
This includes many large city councils in the region including Derby, Sheffield and Leicester.
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson confirmed it is considering options to broadcast its full council, executive board and other committee meetings, but a timeline has not been set.
It is unclear whether cameras would be fitted at Nottingham Council House, where meetings of all councillors are held, or its Loxley House headquarters, where most smaller meetings take place, or both.
The only other Nottinghamshire councils not to livestream their meetings are Bassetlaw District Council and Ashfield District Council.
Neither of these authorities commented on whether they too were looking to invest in equipment to do this.
Nottinghamshire County Council spent £400,000 on a live-streaming system for its council chamber in 2022, including cameras to track each speaker.
Mansfield District Council invested £9,000 in their own kit last year to “improve access and transparency” to local democracy at meetings.
All local authorities moved online during the pandemic, with emergency government legislation allowing them to temporarily hold virtual public meetings.
Local authorities reported that participation of both residents and councillors increased.
Although members of the public are allowed to attend any meeting, broadcasting allows them to more easily follow councillors’ decisions and debates.
Councils say it benefits people who don’t have the time, resources or physical ability to attend a meeting in-person, and the technology can also allow speakers to appear remotely.
Speaking when Nottinghamshire County Council began streaming, Councillor Sue Saddington (Con) said: “For people watching on YouTube, hearing voices doesn’t mean a lot but if you can see your picture they can actually imagine what is happening.
“I think it’s very important that people can put a name to a picture.
“I think it is worth it [the money] because it is democracy and people can see there is no hidden agenda.”
However, there were also concerns about spending the money during the cost of living crisis.
