Wolverhampton City Council is broadcasting today (Tuesday July 16, 2013) its first video of Full Council in action.

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It features city council Leader, Councillor Roger Lawrence, giving the annual State of the City address, with responses from leaders of the opposition - Councillor Neville Patten for the Conservatives and Councillor Malcolm Gwinnett for the LibDems.

The 36 minute video was filmed by graduates of the University of Wolverhampton's BA (Hons) Video and Film Production course - Daniel Anderson and Carl Baker.

It will be promoted on the council's Twitter and Facebook social media channels which are followed by over 30,000 people.

Welcoming the development, Councillor Lawrence said: ""In my speech, I made the point that government cuts mean we must change the way we deliver our services. This means we will have to make some tough financial decisions. We want to include all our citizens in dialogue about how we face these challenges.  The use of video and social media will help us to do this by enabling us to address many more of our residents." 

The 2 opposition leaders welcomed the development too:

Councillor Patten said: "l welcome filming of council meetings because l feel that the public have the right to see how the people they elect transact the business of the council on their behalf. When they realise they are being filmed for all to see, it will also direct councillors minds to the business in hand instead of trying to score political points."

Councillor Gwinnett added: "I fully endorse this development and would like to see more meetings filmed and broadcast on social media. At the end of the day, the council is for the public and the public should see what we do."

Wolverhampton's 60 elected councillors meet every 6 weeks as the Full Council to make decisions on a variety of issues.

Although many functions are delegated by Council to the Cabinet, Cabinet Panels, or other bodies, certain matters are dealt with directly by the full Council meeting including:

  • setting the Council Tax and determining the council's revenue budget and capital programme
  • approving council house rents
  • considering major statutory and strategic plans for the city

Meetings of the Full Council are usually open to the public. At the Annual Council Meeting, usually held each May, the council elects the Mayor and appoints the Deputy Mayor, cabinet members and other councillors to scrutiny panels and committees.

  • released: Tuesday 16 July, 2013