Democracy in Brent

The final section of the Brent Labour Party manifesto is Democracy and Community Engagement. It says:

Membership of political parties and voter turnout in elections is at an all time low; the turnout in the last two general elections being the lowest since 1918.

This is a problem for local authorities as well as for central government and there are number of ways in which local authorities can enhance democratic renewal and take action both to involve local people more fully and to reduce the democratic deficit.

To further enhance local democracy, Labour will consider:

1. Televising council meetings and make the proceedings available to the public on the council’s website so that the public can see their elected representatives in action without having to visit the Town Hall;
2. Televising citizenship ceremonies;
3. Holding Scrutiny meetings in a variety of accessible venues across the borough and not just in the Town Hall in Wembley;
4. Allow the public to call in Executive decisions, as well as councillors
5. Extending Area Forums to one per ward to bring councillors closer to their constituents;
6. Giving backbenchers the right to ask questions at meetings of the Executive;
7. Consulting with other local authorities to seek further ideas on ways of enhancing democratic accountability.