Calls to broadcast council meetings

Politicians want Sheffield Council meetings to be broadcast live

The Lib Dems and the Green Party both say broadcasting council meetings is vital for public scrutiny and democracy and Sheffield is lagging behind other authorities such as Rotherham, Leeds and Manchester which have been live streaming meetings for a while.

Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Lib Dems, said: “People can’t always attend meetings and this would allow them to watch from home or their workplace.

“Sometimes we have very busy meetings and the public gallery is full so again this would allow everyone to watch the meeting. We estimate setting up a webcast system would cost around £30,000 which is not a huge amount of money to ensure transparency.”

Coun Robert Murphy, deputy leader of Sheffield Green Party, said they had been calling on the council to broadcast meetings for the past four or five years.

He said: “South Yorkshire Pension Authority webcast its meetings and each one would get around 100 views.

“It’s absolutely ridiculously this isn’t happening, especially when the Town Hall already has a PA system.”