SOMERSET County Council has been branded “a shambles” after it failed to reach agreement on the way public meetings would be recorded and made available in the future.

The council met in Taunton on Wednesday morning (May 15) to discuss possible changes to the way in which meetings would be recorded and how long they would remain on the authority’s website.

But what should have been a straightforward decision soon descended into a long-winded argument, with opposition councillors accusing the Conservatives of “kicking this into the long grass”.

New proposals will now be drawn up and come back to the full council later in the year.

The council’s constitution and standards committee exists to make recommendations about it can improve its transparency with the public – including the way in which meetings are recorded and those recordings are subsequently made available.

Under the current system, audio recordings of public meetings are published on the council’s website until the minutes have been written up and approved.

The committee – which includes members from all political parties – put forward proposals to change this, so that the recordings would remain online for a two-year period, after which they would be deleted.

But they were met with resistance from Gemma Verdon, Conservative councillor for Chard South.

She said a new group should be set up to look at “best practice for recording and archiving meetings” – including data protection rules and the cost to the public.

This request prompted outcry from Liberal Democrat councillor Tessa Munt, who said she was “slightly amazed” by what was being proposed.

She said: “I find it remarkable that we have to kick this into the long grass by having a task and finish group. We have a process already.

“Since any member of the public can record our meetings, or use social media, everything’s in the public domain anyway. This is about being more transparent.”

Green councillor Martin Dimery said the Conservatives were trying to “move our aim of transparency not just into the long grass, but out of touch altogether.”

Councillor Mike Rigby added: “I’m almost glad that we are not webcasting this meeting, because this is a shambles.”

But cabinet member David Huxtable said it was a good idea to investigate how much it would cost to stream meetings over the internet, as well as making audio recordings, before any changes were made.

He said: “I think rather than agree to this without knowing what else is out there would be doing our constituents a disservice, quite honestly.

“We are mindful that we are spending the public’s money, and some of them, if it’s a big cost, may rather have it spent on services for them rather than a means to listen to us.”

After Ms Verdon withdrew her proposals, the council voted against keeping recordings on its website for two years by a margin of 29 votes to 19, with two abstentions.

Following this defeat, members of the council’s policies and place scrutiny committee will set up a group to investigate future changes to this policy.

Councillor Liz Leyshon said this group should “explore all possibilities” – including webcasting – and should “encouraging the districts to work with us” to create a standardised approach across all Somerset councils.

Council leader David Fothergill added: “I think we’re all disappointed. We need to look forward and make these meetings accessible.”