1. Role of the Networked Councillor
in Scrutiny
Scrutiny in the Spotlight workshop
Catherine Howe, Public-i
November 2013

2. What’s the plan?
Explore what we mean by
networked councillor
Discuss some of the tools
which they might use
Talk about what this means
for scrutiny
Gaze into the future a bit

3. Technology or Social Change?
Any of these disruptions might be a point of entry for how someone
thinks about digital

Self Publication: Disintermediation of the Media

Virtual Community and Social Networking: Wide scale use of Networked
Power

Collaborative Culture: Creating a sharing economy

Radical Openness: Disruption of the democratic relationship

Networked Technology: Smart Cities and new streams of information

Customization, Making and Self-Service: Disruption of manufacturing and
the industrial economy

4. So what is a Networked Councillor?

5. An effective community leader in a
digital and networked world

6. The range of networked behaviours
We have developed a model of Networked Councillor behaviours
Communicative
Tell people what you have done
Collaborative
Discuss with people what you are doing
Co-productive
Agree with people what you could do together

7. Digital tools are important.
Networked thinking is essential.

8. One to One
There and Then
Here and Now

9. Broadcast

10. Networked

11. This is a whole system change but in a
democratic system the elected
representatives are crucial

12. We need to create Networked Councillors.
This needs more than just showing them
how to use Twitter.

13. We limit ourselves by simply considering
changes to the way we communicate

14. What kind of tools are we
talking about?

15. Good uses for content creation on a range of devices
Smart phones
 Quick video/audio interviews
 Photography
 Twitter
iPad/tablets
 Twitter
 Creating pictures, video and audio
 Email, blog reading
 Light editing of video, audio, pictures
Laptop
 Blogging, writing, editing
 Full editing of media (pictures, video, audio)
 Detailed work – spreadsheets, etc.
 Responding in detail to emails, blogs (commenting)

16. Some examples of online tools & their uses
Blogging
Can be updated regularly and posts
(like this one) don’t have to be long
Allows residents to comment on
issues – and for councillors to respond
You can go into detail and combine
different media (words, pictures, video)
Audience can include anyone (you
don’t need an account to read and is
easy to publicise)
Great for showing the full range
of your views
http://www.cllrandrewwallis.co.uk/unrestricted-filming-at-cornwall-council-meetings/

17. Facebook
Allows quick sharing of media content
(any content)
Can connect to much wider group,
who often are unlikely to use other
social media
Great for managing large number of
friends
Can run pages (public) and profile
(public or private) separately
Facebook algorithms make some
aspects of using it abstruse
Privacy issues for some – in particular
keeping private/public separate
Great for finding people and
being social
https://www.facebook.com/Alison.Her

18. Twitter
Great for quick responses and
conversations
Share links to content (news, blog
posts, videos)
A social tool – for talking with others,
not for broadcast
Audience is smaller than than
Facebook
Great for helping to build links with
individuals and organisations (through
reciprocity)
Great for finding people and
sharing news
https://twitter.com/jasonkitcat

19. LinkedIn
Shows network of connections
Demonstrates skills and experience
(good for digital footprint)
Establishes links with business
community
Audience is professional and
(mostly) employed
Difficult to see full profiles
You have to pay for full access
Best for managing your
formal network
uk.linkedin.com/pub/councillor-webb/1a/23/393

20. Webcasting
4,489
live views
CoveritLive
interactive chat had
3,981 page views & 242
comments
#ccwebcast
trended on Twitter
“I strongly believe that these numbers
prove that by enabling people to take an
active role in the debate, by marrying up
the available technology with transparency
and democracy - a direct line into the
Chamber - we can encourage more people
to take an interest in local politics.”
Matt Bond, Communications Specialist
Cornwall Council

21. Connect Social
Designed to provide a single place to connect to your content
Gives councillors identity on webcasting
Shows their democratic record – allowing you to trace their activity
Audience is completely open
Can integrate other social media activity

23. People struggle more
with the social skills
than the technical
ones

24. What does it mean when some
one ‘RT’s me?
Do I have to have a
Facebook page?
How do I deal with conflict?
It’s not just help with the
technical skills –
It’s about understanding culture
and behaviour online
How public do I have to be?
What can I talk about?

25. Table questions
Exploring the skills in your council
What do you already use social media for either personally or professionally?
Do you have any networked councillors?
What is there role in the scrutiny process?

26. And how are these tools used
in scrutiny?

27. Scrutiny is a great place to start
Ideal for more open democracy?
There is the opportunity for the public to contribute to the agenda
The format follows a topic rather than a formal committee structure
The process can involve many different people from different networks
Openness is at the heart of the scrutiny process
It can work well with other digital democracy projects such as open data

28. Open up the agenda setting
New approaches to
evidence
Extend the reach of the
process
There are many ways to use social
media in scrutiny in a meaningful
way
Embed open government
principles
Work more responsively

29. Examples of Networked Councillor qualities in Scrutiny
Open by default
Comments from the public are
encouraged during meetings via
social media and other channels
Digitally native
Minutes of meetings and related
papers available online - meetings
are either webcast or live tweeted
and widely disseminated online
Co-productive
Networked
Decisions are shaped with active
citizens who continue to participate
actively in the outcome
Decisions are communicated via relevant
networks rather than being simply
disseminated centrally

30. What is the role of information in scrutiny?
Open data

31. How do we define ‘evidence’?

32. Blogging in Scrutiny
Emma is using her
blog to explain the
budget process in
non-council language

33. Twitter updates around scrutiny
Both officers and members are using twitter to highlight what is
happening in scrutiny

34. Webcasting in action in a highly sensitive scrutiny case
Webcasting a difficult issue makes it clear you are being open
http://www.coventry.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/114228

35. Using an online community forum to engage people in
Party Houses Scrutiny
Going to people’s
own spaces can
involve a much more
diverse group of
people
http://bhccresidentcommunity.ning.com/BHscrutiny/partyhouses

36. Tough Choices Devon
Text here??
http://www.toughchoices.co.uk/

37. CityCamp
Text here??
http://citycampbtn.org/

38. NHS Citizen
Total hits over both days: 2234 (1650 live, 584 archive)

39. Margaret Hodge
Text here??

40. Good Scrutiny award winners
Text here??

41. Table questions
How could you use these ideas in the future
Decide on a topic that you want to work on – it could be anything that is
topical in your council or even better in the local community
What would a ‘networked scrutiny’ process look like?
What tools would you use?
What bits of the process would you change?
Who would be involved?
What is stopping you??

42. Social media and the digital realm
can be challenging.
It is the poorer for the absence of
our democratic processes

43. Thank you for your time
Catherine Howe
catherine.howe@public-i.info