Council TV? Bid to live stream council meetings from Hartlepool Borough Council

Local authority chiefs are to look at whether to offer live streaming online of council meetings.
Hartlepool Civic CentreHartlepool Civic Centre
Hartlepool Civic Centre

A suggestion had been referred to Hartlepool Borough Council Constitution Committee over the possibility of live streaming Full Council meetings on YouTube.

Council officers said this had previously been considered however at the time it was considered to be cost prohibitive.

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However changes in technology mean that newer and cheaper technology is possibly now available.

Currently Full Council meetings are recorded on video camera and put on the council website afterwards.

Coun Shane Moore, council leader, said at the meeting after talks with council officers he was aware of a system which was a £250 one-off cost to immediately stream to social media sites.

He said: “It’s whether members think that’s worth investing in or whether they are happy with the current system that we have of recording meetings and putting them onto the website after.”

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Council officers said they were unaware of how many users watch the videos online but estimated the number was low.

Council chief executive Gill Alexander noted it could be more beneficial to stream it rather than the current procedure.

She said: “This would probably be a more cost effective use of staff time to do it this way than the way we do it currently, because it’s actually quite a big job for the communications team.”

Councillors on the committee referred the issue back to officers due to it being an ‘operational issue’, to decide if it should be implemented in the future.