Pickles hails new 'right to report', attacks councils for resistance to openness

There is “no excuse” for any local authority not to allow the press and public to film, tweet and blog on council meetings after new rules on a ‘right to report’ came into effect, the Communities Secretary has insisted.

Eric Pickles has signed a Parliamentary order bringing the Openness of Local Government Regulations 2014, which apply to England, into effect.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said that, under the regulations, members of the press and public would have the right to:

  • use modern technology and communication methods such as filming, audio-recording, blogging and tweeting to report the proceedings of the meetings of their councils and other local government bodies; and
  • see information relating to significant decisions made outside meetings by officers acting under a general or specific delegated power.

The new rules apply to all public meetings, including those held by town and parish councils and fire and rescue authorities.

The DCLG pointed to a number of alleged incidents at local authorities. These included:

  • a councillor in Thanet being removed by the police for trying to film a council meeting discussing airport expansion;
  • Wirral Council saying that filming a planning committee would compromise ‘health and safety’;
  • Tower Hamlets Council barring a 71-year-old resident from filming due the risk of ‘reputational damage’ to the authority;
  • Keighley Town Council blocking residents filming as it would amount to a ‘breach of standing orders’;
  • Bexley Council saying audio and visual filming would breach its ‘agreed protocol’;
  • Stamford Town Council placing a ban on journalists tweeting from meetings due to the risk of them "not accurately portraying a debate";
  • a blogger in Huntingdonshire being removed by police for filming.

The councils’ interpretation of these incidents were not reported by the DCLG.

But, accusing some councils of “active resistance” to greater openness, Eric Pickles said: “Local democracy needs local journalists and bloggers to report and scrutinise the work of their council, and increasingly, people read their news via digital media. The new ‘right to report’ goes hand in hand with our work to stop unfair state competition from municipal newspapers - together defending the independent free press.

“There is now no excuse for any council not to allow these new rights. Parliament has changed the law, to allow a robust and healthy local democracy. This will change the way people see local government, and allow them to view close up the good work that councillors do.”

The DCLG has published a plain English guide to the ‘right to report’. This can be viewed here. It replaces the guide Your council's cabinet: going to its meetings, seeing how it works.