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SALFORD CITY COUNCIL TO GAG PUBLIC AT COUNCIL MEETINGS
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Star date: 4th November 2019 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME LIMIT AT FULL COUNCIL MEETINGS Next week, Salford City Council is set to change its constitution to impose new time limits on members of the public who question councillors and the City Mayor at full meetings of the Council. The change to the constitution is subtle but potentially huge, with a five minute limit on all utterances from the questioner. Full details here...
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In recent times, campaigners in the city have used public question time at full meetings of Salford City Council to air their points and grill the City Mayor and councillors on all kinds of issues, from green space atrocities, to lack of community democracy and cuts to services. The Council constitution as it stands states that "A member of the public shall speak only on the subject being discussed and for no longer than five minutes", before the City Mayor or delegated councillor replies. Then, "The member of the public putting the original public question may make a comment/ask a supplementary question in respect of the reply given by the elected City Mayor (or other Member of the council who responds to the public question)" This is followed by the City Mayor or other councillor making a final comment. Next week, the Standards Committee of the Council is to make changes to the constitution, altering the text to: "A member of the public shall speak only on the subject being discussed and for no longer than five minutes in total (including any supplemantaries)" [spelling courtesy of the legal team at Salford City Council]. The new change to the constitution adds: "The member of the public putting the original public question may, within their five minute allowance, make a comment/ask a supplementary question but only in respect of the reply given by the City Mayor (or other Member of the council who responds to the public question)." Then the City Mayor, or councillor gets the last word... The difference is that for most members of the public who ask questions at Council meetings, it's normally the supplementary question that aims to get to the meat of the issue; as the first question has to be submitted and approved in advance, giving whoever is responding the chance to polish their answer, usually to say nothing. Five minutes in total to ask two questions and comment on issues that matter to communities is shocking when the City Mayor Paul Dennett is allowed to waffle for ages in his ever growing speeches, while members of the Council can similarly rattle on and on with their political grandstanding. A councillor moving a motion, for instance, gets ten minutes, while other councillors get five minutes, with chances for loving the sound of their own voice via points of order, personal explanations, right to reply etc. And umpteen councillors can speak for five minutes on the same issue with the same points, which happens a lot. These rules, of course, remain unchanged...
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steel.blayz@ntlworld.com wrote
at 17:53:58 on 08 November 2019 |
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Stewart Eon wrote
at 15:13:16 on 06 November 2019 |
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| Nothing surprises me regarding salford clowncil
A more self serving self important mafia would be impossible to find |
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Pete c wrote
at 09:45:24 on 06 November 2019 |
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| Why... The public should have their say, it’s very difficult to contact your local councillor that’s three of them who ignore you, ignore your emails, and ignore your telephone calls so it’s down well right the public should have their say Salford city councillors are just in it for themselves when it comes to them being voted in one day later when they’ve been voted in they simply don’t want to know you anymore, I just wish the people of Salford realise what this city council are doing and the wreckage it brings with it |
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ROSSI wrote
at 09:44:28 on 06 November 2019 |
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| Thing about this Seamus guy is that he has stones. Cojones. He's a man of his word. And like me he resides in Magnolia Court. We're both Broadwalk Boys, me and Old Shame.
Like I said, and it's difficult getting through to some of you numpties, but Seamus, a highly intelligent and principled man, and one whom is too good for The Broadwalk, and the dingey corridors of Magnolia Court, could have had it easy, if only he'd have gone into politics for pecuniary gain, indeed for filthy lucre rather than principle. I know that he's not a Labour Man, and frankly, who is nowadays ... Apart from Ray of Sunshine, and he's nothing but a Muppet, but I also know that Seamus would've been a great constituency MP. An MP in the mould of the late, the great, Frank Allaun.
Trust me, Seamus's not getting anywhere in politics isn't just his loss, it's ALL OUR losses. |
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ROSSI wrote
at 21:07:54 on 05 November 2019 |
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| I know this Seamus Martin guy. He's a good guy, with a good heart. If he'd have been mercenary he'd have joined the Labour Party years ago, then become a councillor, then been given a safe seat as an MP. From there he'd have been on Easy Street, but Seamus's Achilles heel is that he has scruples. This is why he tried becoming a ukip councillor. He's a man of principle. Not because he wanted to be a ukip councillor, but because in attempting this he was flogging a dead horse ... But like I say, he's a man of principle. |
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Craig Holmes wrote
at 21:07:50 on 05 November 2019 |
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| I thought these people were elected to work for the people and changing theae rules they should ask the people. But the labour party at the salford council has been dictating for years but the silly people of salford will keep voting for them and wont give anyone else a chance. So salford will keep on suffering. |
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Stewart Eon wrote
at 21:07:36 on 05 November 2019 |
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| Are we really going to lose the
Opendemocracyisation
Promised us by Clown Prince Stewart ?
Salford Clowncil couldn't organise a
Chimps Tea Party . |
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kenny wrote
at 13:39:24 on 05 November 2019 |
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| Good way of stopping councillors being grilled over bad decisions. Pure and simple way of shutting the public up. A councillor can now ramble on for five minutes without answering a question. |
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Joe Muggins wrote
at 12:45:14 on 05 November 2019 |
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| In reply to Seamus Martin I have had the misfortune to attend a couple of council meetings so I may qualify as a self-important windbag in your eyes but the only windbags that I saw were some councillors who thought that the public were an irritant who were asking questions that they the councillors couldn’t or didn’t want to answer or be asked.
Talk about being democratic and transparent don’t make me laugh.
Some councillors were very good and understood why the public were there, others are presumably the ones who want to limit how long people can ask questions for.
It is a pathetic ill thought out proposal that shows us all what is going on at the Civic Centre. |
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John Merrys Twin wrote
at 12:44:33 on 05 November 2019 |
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| Really surprised at Mr Martins comments, the platform is the only one available to raise issues of concern to Elected Cllrs, activist are being blocked on twitter sites, failure to respond to emails, refusal to have community committees in some wards, so where does he think people or community spokesman should raise their concerns? on the door step each May when they come for your vote? was he not himself a self important windbag? |
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Ann Margaret armitage wrote
at 09:02:36 on 05 November 2019 |
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| I strongly suggest that all the labour councillors of Salford are voted out in the next local election. They are no better than the Tory government who are in now, you can't believe anything they say or do. They prove that there is only one way and that's theirs. The only interest is lining their own pockets and bugger us people. They have no intention of stopping building on chat moss either. It's just bloody disgusting 😠 what they're doing 😠 |
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DJB wrote
at 09:01:40 on 05 November 2019 |
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| Well I'm sorry but when you vote in Labour party members you must expect that in reality the people are their last concern. A vote for Labour is a vote to return the dark ages. |
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Seamus Martin wrote
at 09:00:41 on 05 November 2019 |
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| This is a very reasonable and sensible change. It prevents grandstanding by unelected, self-important windbags. |
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retired socalist wrote
at 13:07:34 on 04 November 2019 |
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| So one more Nail in the coffin of Salford Labour democratic process, sad part we the voter allowed it.
Failure to respond to emails, twitter blocks, starve the star of content and press release, what more can they do to destroy the faith in democracy? what ever the F-ck they want, |
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