Council Apologises to Councillor Over Recording Instructions Error

Published on: 6 May, 2016
Updated on: 8 May, 2016

Cllr Moseley, Planning Committee Chair at the April 6th planning meeting.

Guildford Borough Council (GBC) officers have apologised to a councillor for not informing her about changes to instructions to be given at the beginning of council meetings.

Cllr Marsha Moseley (Con, Ash Vale) was warning planning meetings, which she chairs, that recording of the meetings could not take place without prior permission.

In fact, under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014, the public no longer require permission from councils to film, photograph or make sound recordings of proceedings.

In a reply to a complainant, Nick Bomford of Horsley, Sue Sturgeon, the managing director of GBC wrote: “The council changed its order papers for meetings of the council, to exclude any prohibitions.

“Unfortunately the order paper the Chairman of Planning used was mistakenly not updated – clearly this was not the fault of the Chairman of Planning.  Officers thought that they had explained to Councillor Moseley that she could not prohibit recording, but having reviewed this, it is not the case.

“This situation has been corrected and the council has apologised to Councillor Moseley.”

Commenting on Mr Bomford’s complaint that a man he believed to be a council officer was photographing or filming the public gallery, Ms Sturgeon wrote: “I can make no further comment about the gentleman who appeared to be filming the event, I do not believe that it was an officer from the council.”

See also: Managing Director Admits Councillor’s Error at Planning Meeting and The Dragon Says: Cllr Moseley Must Apologise For Her ‘Bloody Rabble’ Remark

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