1. Scrutiny in the Spotlight workshop
Role of the Networked Councillor
in Scrutiny
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.  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
Technology or Social Change?
Any of these disruptions might be a point of entry for how someone
thinks about digital

4. So what is a Networked Councillor?

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

6. The range of networked behaviours
Communicative Tell people what you have done
We have developed a model of Networked Councillor behaviours
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. Here and Now
There and Then
One to One

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)
http://www.cllrandrewwallis.co.uk/unrestricted-filming-at-cornwall-council-meetings/
Great for showing the full range
of your views

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
https://www.facebook.com/Alison.Her
Great for finding people and
being social

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)
https://twitter.com/jasonkitcat
Great for finding people and
sharing news

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
uk.linkedin.com/pub/councillor-webb/1a/23/393
Best for managing your
formal network

20. 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
Webcasting

21. Connect Social
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
Designed to provide a single place to connect to your content

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

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

25. 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?
Table questions
Exploring the skills in your council

26. And how are these tools used
in scrutiny?

27. 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
Scrutiny is a great place to start
Ideal for more open democracy?

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

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
Decisions are shaped with active
citizens who continue to participate
actively in the outcome
Networked
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
http://www.coventry.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/114228
Webcasting a difficult issue makes it clear you are being open

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
http://www.toughchoices.co.uk/
Text here??

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

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. 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??
Table questions
How could you use these ideas in the future

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

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