Long calls for minutes to be put on council website

Castlereagh Central Alliance Councillor Michael Long has asked the Council to provide its minutes on the Council website in order to increase openness and transparency for ratepayers. Cllr. Long, who previously successfully campaigned to have Councillor allowances listed on the website, welcomed the decision to refer the matter to the IT sub-Committee for further consideration.

Cllr. Long said, “I think that it is important that ratepayers are able to know what decisions are taken by the Council and feel that it would help increase openness and transparency if the minutes of Council meetings were available for ratepayers to see on the Council website. Many other local Councils, including Belfast and Lisburn, have been doing this for some time and I think that Castlereagh should follow this course of action.

“Currently, minutes are only available for a limited period in libraries or from the Council itself but this takes considerable effort for ratepayers to find out what exactly Councillors have been discussing.

“I raised the matter at this month’s central Services Committee and am pleased that the matter has been referred for further consideration. I hope that the outcome will be that ratepayers will be able to access the Minutes by a press of a button rather than by hours of searching.”

ENDS

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