Power to the People

Proposals put forward by Conservative Councillors calling for greater transparency and accountability of elected representatives was unanimously passed at the October Full Council Meeting.

Conservative Group LeaderCouncillor Howard Jones has expressed his delight after yet another Conservative-proposed motion was passed, building on the previous success of re-introducing the original Committee structure earlier this year.

Put forward byCllr Howard Jones the motion called for the Council to support the aims of the Localism Bill & the Government’s drive for greater transparency and develop a strategy to implement measures which will benefit Kingston residents, such as removing bureaucracy, empowering communities and strengthening of local democracy.

The recommendations called for the recording in the minutes of all meetings of how Councillors voted, together with a summary of the debate and to have available either full handwritten notes or electronic recording for future reference purposes.

The Conservative Group Leader said ‘very sensibly the LibDems have listened to our argument and agreed that releasing this information to the public will provide a wealth of local knowledge and spark more improvements in the way services are delivered.