Policies

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.

Coningsby Town Council is committed to being open and transparent in the way it conducts its decision making. For the purpose of this policy the term “record” means any form of audio, visual or electronic recording. Such recording is permitted under the lawful direction of the council.

The Council understands that some members of the public attending its meetings may not wish to be recorded and the Chairman of the meeting will facilitate this by ensuring that any such request will be respected by those making a recording. Any member of the public who does not wish to be recorded should make this known to the Clerk or the Chairman prior to the commencement of the meeting.

he rules

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

Flash photography is deemed as disruptive; therefore the use of flash photography is not permitted during Council meetings.

A person or persons making a recording has no right to interrupt the Council 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.

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.

The recording and reporting on meetings of the council are 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 *GDPR * 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 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. The council will have no liability for material published by any other person unless it is itself undertaking the publication through its offices.

The Council may itself photograph, film, record or broadcast meetings and can retain, use or dispose of such material in accordance with its retention and disposal policies. Where a council proposes to record all of its own meetings it will be bound by this policy.

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.

The minutes of a Council meeting remain the statutory and legally binding formal record of Council meeting.

*General Data Protection Regulations* from 25/05/2018

There is no need to respond to unsolicited invitations or spam emails, indeed there are very good reasons for not so doing.

Inevitably, the Town Council may receive repeated communications from individual members of the public on the same subject(s). It is permissible for staff to merely acknowledge such emails/letters without having to respond to each and every point. In any such case, the Town Clerk should be consulted.

It should always be remembered that it is possible to recover any electronic correspondence.

Town Councillor’s Details

If requested, the staff will provide a member of the public with the names, addresses and telephone numbers for Town Councillors.

Media Statements

Any press release from the Town Council is to be approved by the Town Clerk and where requested, copied to all Town Councillors.

Press releases from the Town Council need not be formally worded in stilted language but must not be partisan.

For the avoidance of doubt, an individual Town Councillor or political party may issue their own statements to the media but those must not give the impression of being a release from the Town Council.

Obscene & Abusive Language

Staff and Councillors are not obliged to listen to abusive and obscene tirades or address members of the public in this way. In such a case the caller should politely be asked to desist and advised that if they continue to use such language the call will be terminated. If the abuse or obscenity continues then the call can be terminated.

Care however should be taken as some ‘vivid descriptions’ are used in the ordinary course of speech by certain sections of the community. A judgement should be made from the tone if that is the position. In such cases a councillor or member of staff can ask for moderation but may choose to continue the contact