Issue - meetings

Social Media Guidance

Meeting: 08/03/2021 - Standards Committee (Item 52)

52 Social Media Guidance pdf icon PDF 495 KB

To consider proposed guidance for Members on the appropriate use of social media.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report, set out at Agenda pages 57 to 68, which gave details of a proposed Protocol on the use of social media: Social Media Guidance for Councillors.

 

The report stated that, in recent years, there had been an increase in the number of Code of Conduct complaints relating to Members’ use of social media. At present there was no specific guidance for Members set out in the Councillor Code of Conduct. It was felt to be useful to provide Members with guidance on the use of social media and examples of specific behaviours which may constitute a breach of the Code.

 

The report stated that 69% of respondents to the LGA’s consultation on the proposed Model Code had stated that guidance on the use of social media should be incorporated into the Code. Despite this level of support, guidance on the use of social media had not been incorporated into the Model Code. Consequently, WBC officers had developed social media guidance, which was appended to the report.

 

Following the earlier discussion on the Councillor Code of Conduct, Members supported the adoption of the proposed social media guidance within the new Code of Conduct.

 

RESOLVED That:

 

1)     the proposed Social Media Guidance be approved;

 

2)     the proposed guidance be recommended to full Council alongside the new Councillor Code of Conduct;

 

3)     the guidance be monitored and reviewed every two years, alongside the Code of Conduct.