Council's new rules for questions at meetings branded 'Orwellian' by furious Northumberland councillor
Northumberland County Council’s new rules on members’ question time at full council have been branded as ‘Orwellian’ by a furious Liberal Democrat member.
Under the new rules, questions have been limited to just 150 words and must contain ‘no preamble’.
Other rules include a maximum of 30 minutes for the entire question and answer session, with answers limited to two minutes. A further four minutes will be granted for a supplementary question and answer.
Cllr Suzanne Fairless Aitken, who represents the Hexham East ward, slammed the move after one of her submitted questions was edited by officers.
She said: “You can’t just ask a question with no preamble. I find the new rules a little Orwellian or Dystopian.
“There is a huge difference between ‘preamble’ and ‘context’ – not all members will know background to a particular issue or area and a little bit of information is welcome. Indeed I enjoy ‘Members Questions’ more than other parts of the, often, long meetings – it’s one of the most interesting parts of the meeting.
“For five years I have sat through numerous cabinet reports where the ‘introduction and the sum up’ is a huge ‘pre-amble’ containing bluff, posturing and cheap shots aimed at opposition members. It feels like we are being silenced, slowly but surely.
“I think it’s absolutely shocking. I don’t think it’s very fair.”
The council brought in stricter rules around questions in a bid to reduce the length of full council meetings. Prior to a damning report carried out by local Government inspector Max Caller into governance at the council, members’ questions took up a significant amount of time and often dissolved into combative debate between opposing councillors.
Deputy leader of the council Richard Wearmouth said: “The chair of the council is simply asking councillors to keep questions as ‘questions’ and not make long speeches pretending to be questions.
“That way more questions can be asked and answered in the time available which is good for councillors and the residents they represent. I’m sure the public will both understand the logic and empathise from their own experiences in life as to why it might be necessary to follow this approach.”