Harry Catherall
Chief Executive
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Harry Catherall,

I am writing in light of the council’s decision to stop posting recordings of meetings online and to remove past recordings of council meetings from YouTube.

I am deeply dismayed by this decision, which I feel represents a very unwelcome backwards step in terms of openness, accountability and trust; all at a time when we as councillors should be striving to demonstrate good practice across those three key pillars of local democracy.

Oldham Council has described its ambition to become a ‘listening council’ that brings residents closer to decision making.  Ensuring that residents, businesses and journalists have access to council meetings should be of paramount importance to Oldham Council as part of this ambition.  We cannot call ourselves a listening council if we are preventing people listening to council processes.

Without a robust and formal process for capturing what is said at council meetings and committees – in the way that Hansard does in Parliament – recorded meetings play a vital role in our democratic process.

I am writing as Leader of the Opposition to urge the council to reconsider this move, to ask how the council reached this decision and what the reasons and motivations were in doing so.

I look forward to your urgent response.

Best wishes – Councillor Howard Sykes MBE