Mary Reid

During this year I am still actively involved in e-democracy.  Last week's edition of Local Government Chronicle carried an article of mine, which I'm repeating here.

Citizens now expect to be able to google their elected representatives. Website management systems such as councillor.info, blogging platforms like ReadMyDay, even community online toolkits like Voice offer councillors easy routes to an online presence.  

 

Whichever method they choose, at some point councillors all come up against the Code of Conduct for Members. According to the Code, a member must not use council resources for political purposes.

 

Our democratic system is fundamentally adversarial. Government is all the better where the details are scrutinised and the principles are debated by a strong opposition.

 

So it seems very odd that the Code of Conduct appears to treat political debate as though it were an aberration rather than the lifeblood of the system.  However, the words that follow are often forgotten: “unless that use could reasonably be regarded as likely to facilitate, or be conducive to, the discharge of the functions of the authority or of the office to which the member has been elected or appointed”.

 

Councillors all use council resources whenever they speak at council meetings. I have yet to hear of a councillor who has been reported to the Standards Board for having made a political statement in a council meeting – that would be absurd.

 

In some councils, political discussions can be viewed on webcasts placed on council websites. Again, the use of this medium has never been challenged.

 

Yet many councils are extremely cautious about allowing councillors to use  council-supported web facilities ‘for political purposes’, even though we could argue that they are ‘likely to facilitate the discharge of the functions of the authority’.

 

The Local e-Democracy National Project has developed some very helpful guidance on the legal issues surrounding councillor’s websites. You can download it from www.edemocracy.gov.uk/knowledgepool/  (It is listed under C for Councillors’ Websites Legal Guidance)

 

In my view, councils are still erring too much on the side of caution. I would like to see real progress made on this issue in the next couple of years.  We need a clear recognition of the political role of councillors and a willing, not reluctant, acceptance of the political content of their websites.

 

Ironically, this is now my Mayoral year, so I have adopted a non-political stance in my blog, but I do see this as the exception. All councillors should be free to be  what they were elected to do – represent their residents and promote the policies that they presented in their manifestos.