On Wednesday democracy went live as Leeds City Council webcast the full council meeting.
Earlier this year Leeds City Council trialled live broadcasting a full council meeting and this was so successful, with the live transmission being accessed 588 times and a further 1037 times after the meeting in its archive form, that from this month full council meetings will be available as a webcast every month.
From September all council meetings through 2013/14 will be broadcast live on the day, and then held in an archive for people to access from www.leeds.gov.uk after the meeting.
You don’t even have to sit through all 5 hours either as, by accessing the archive and selecting the time on the timetable to the side, the recording moves to the selected time.
The webcasts can be found at www.leeds.public-i.tv/core/
and you can go directly to the September meeting at
www.leeds.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/112883
Councillor Keith Wakefield, leader of Leeds City Council, said:
“An important part of democracy is making sure local people have access to what is happening in their city.
“We are committed to making the democratic processes at the council as open and transparent as possible – and this are one way to make it easier for our residents to see how this part of the council works.
“We have trialled the technology at previous meetings, with the help of specialists, so this time round we are testing the equipment and controlling it ourselves, so please do bear with us if we hit any hurdles.”
To access the live meeting coverage direct visit www.leeds.public-i.tv/core/ or it can also be accessed via www.leeds.gov.uk
Adel and Wharfedale Branch 