Tech limits blamed for lack of council livestreams
LDRSA council leader has said livestreaming authority meetings is not possible because of technology issues and fixing it is not a financial priority.
Labour's Cumberland Council leader Mark Fryer told a full council meeting on Tuesday that the local authority held meetings in several buildings across its region which all had varying levels of tech setups.
Fryer had been asked by Independent Councillor Robert Betton if he would commit to livestreaming and it had not been implemented "despite being raised repeatedly over the past three years".
Fryer said funding livestreaming would eat into resources for other services, but the council was exploring the matter.
Betton said the public needed to know what was happening within the council and meetings were recorded during the Covid-19 lockdown at the former Carlisle City Council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Fryer said that was a requirement of social distancing rules at the time.
He said while some locations could accommodate livestreaming, standardising technology would divert funds from day-to-day services.
"I fail to see, at this moment in time, how this is a priority," he said.
Fryer told the meeting the council was reviewing current arrangements regarding technology and livestreaming.
