Ilkay Cinker-Oner says new rules are “stirring up problems” for the future

BANNERS and placards are to be banned at council meetings under changes to the Town Hall’s constitution.

A vote was held on Thursday on the new measures, which will require members of the public to seek permission in writing from the mayor if they wish to display flags, banners, placards, signs or props.

The mayor has the power to refuse permission “if the prop is offensive, discriminatory, inflammatory or misleading in nature or might otherwise disrupt the meeting”, the updated rule states.

At a heated debate on Thursday, there were questions raised over why the more stringent measures were being implemented. Flags and placards have not in recent years caused problems in the gallery.

Disruptions of meetings have instead been spurred on by interruptions and shouting, including at an executive meeting earlier this month.

Councillor Ilkay Cinko-Oner said the changes were “stirring up problems for the future”, asking: “Why adopt new complicated rules around flags and placards? Why are these needed? We have not had problems seen in our borough, so why are we importing restrictions that solve nothing here?”

The independent Laycock councillor added: “Colleagues are being asked to vote through something that will only reinforce the comparisons people already make about Labour councils shutting down dissent and protest. We should be opening this council up and making it easier for people to take part, not harder.”

But Labour councillor Paul Convery, who was part of the working group charged with updating the constitution, said that the changes were merely being implemented because “modernisation was required”.

It is more than two decades since the constitution was last looked at.

He said, too, that placards, banners and flag-waving did not help to keep proceedings “calm” in the Town Hall.

In response to the argument that democracy would be damaged by the new rules, Cllr Convery said: “If you believe that citizen engagement in the business of this council is somehow fixed by writing rules, you’re dead wrong. There’s something much more fundamentally problematic about an electorate that is feeling a bit left behind, a bit disaffected.”

He added: “We do need to revitalise the political health of this borough but it’s not going to be done believing there are some fantastical rule changes which will fix everything.”

The new rules also mean that members of the public will not be allowed to bring deputations to council budget meetings, and officers can reject questions if they “do not relate to the powers or duties of the council”.

Green councillor Caroline Russell, who was also on the working group, abstained from voting.

She said: “I think we need to do more in terms of engagement with the public, the way the questions work. It’s not a great look for us to be reducing the amount of opportunities there are for asking questions. I think we can do better than that.”