Proposals to launch ‘Council TV’ into every living room in the county have been quickly stamped on by the leader of Herefordshire Council.
An idea to pilot webcasting, to enable residents to watch council debates on the internet, was raised by a review panel of elected members reporting to overview and scrutiny committee. The proposal was misreported today as ‘a test broadcast of reality TV’ on the front page of a local newspaper.
Councillor Roger Phillips, leader of the council, immediately pulled the plug on the idea.
He said: “I have never heard such squit - there is no way the cabinet will even contemplate spending money on such a suggestion. We’ve only just seen the back of Big Brother – we won’t be starting another reality TV show.
“Public services are facing up to severe financial pressures and massive cuts in government funding. Our commitment is to reduce any possible increase in council tax and make sure we do all we can to safeguard social care for the vulnerable and our growing older population.
“We have already cut back on what we spend on communications and will be cutting back more in the next few months - every area of activity is making a contribution, with more central control of communications expenditure”.
The council recently announced it would be cutting at least 30 management posts over the next one to two years and has already rationalised the number of directorates as it drives through savings as a result of close partnership working with NHS Herefordshire, the primary care trust.
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