FI14704
Request
I would like to know if it is council policy and acceptable for councillors on the planning committee to A ) have their mobile phones present during important planning hearings B) to blatantly start using their mobile phones during important planning hearings Reference the planning hearings of 7th March when both these incidents occurred.
Response
There is no Council policy on the use of mobile phones in meetings by councillors. In respect of the acceptability of the use of mobile phones, we know that many Members will use their mobile devices to look up publicly available information (using google maps for example) relating to the matter under consideration and this has had a positive impact on debates at times. If the use of mobile devices was to be considered disruptive the Chairman of the Planning Committee would be entitled to address this with Members. Nationally, and internationally, it is noted that the use of mobile phones by elected representatives has been the subject of much discussion and different rules exist in different countries in respect of this. It is worth noting that the UK Parliament does permit MPs to use mobile devices in the House of Commons.