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Transparency Changes Outcome of Police Priority Vote
Coleridge Road, Cambridge. A fantastic example of why transparency is good for democratic decision making occurred at the Cambridge City Council’s East Area Committee on the 19th of August 2010. Green Party Councillor Margaret Wright had proposed a motion removing an existing police priority aimed at reducing speeding on a range of target roads across […]
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Questions to the Cambridge City Council Executive – May 2010
At full meetings of Cambridge City Council there is a section where councillors are able to ask oral questions of the Executive councillors. Questions are submitted in advance and are randomly ordered by officers prior to the meeting. As many questions as it is possible to get through in the half hour allocated are taken. […]
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Secret Meeting on Wednesday to Discuss Cycling And Parking on Church Street Chesterton
Cars often park illegally on Church Street in Chesterton. As part of a scheme to make the road more attractive to cyclists Cllr Clare Blair wants parking formally permitted. At the North Area committee on the 4th of March 2010 I asked a public question about consultation in relation to a proposed Arbury Park to […]
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Democracy Club – Bringing Openness and Accountability to Elections
A meet-up of those interested in reinvigorating democracy and making the next election the most open and transparent ever is being held on Thursday the 25th of February from 19.30 in B-Bar, Market Passage, Cambridge. The Cambridge event, which is for those living in the surrounding region as well as city residents, is one of […]
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Asking Cambridge City Council To Routinely Release Results of Food Premises Inspections
I attended Cambridge City Council’s Community Services Scrutiny Committee on the 14th of January 2010. I used the fact the city council allows members of the public to speak at council meetings to ask the Executive Councillor for Community Development and Health, councillor Clare Blair, about how the council makes the results of its inspections […]
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Observing History – Heathrow Robbery Trial Starts Without Jury
Observing History – Heathrow Robbery Trial Starts Without Jury Supporters of the defendants in the UK’s first modern criminal trial where a jury has been denied placed banners on the railings outside the Royal Courts of Justice. This morning I went to the Royal Courts of Justice to personally witness the start of the first […]
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Cambridge City Council Decide to Make a Huge Leap Forward In Terms of Openness and Transparency
A buffet was provided for councillors and officers during a break in the meeting. I was hungry so I took up an offer of a sandwich. There were no professional press present. I guess I got the sandwich which would have otherwise been offered to them. (Photos of the meeting itsself were not permitted) I […]
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Suggesting Improvements to Election Observation in the UK
I sought accreditation as an electoral observer for the recent elections. Candidates and their agents can observe elements of the elections, and I was informally offered accreditation from a party to observe my local count, however I have no allegiance to any party and decided to follow a route administered by the Electoral Commission instead. […]
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Concern About the Independent Monitoring Board at Oakington Immigration Removal Centre
Just outside Cambridge over three hundred men are detained at the ex. RAF base at Oakington which is now an immigration removal centre. Those held include people waiting to be deported as well as those waiting for legal due-process to make decisions on their immigration status. Many have been released from prison to the centre. […]