10 October (Part 4) - Kevin Fox again
There was a bit of an incident before Tuesday evening’s Public Realm meeting.
I arrived in the council chamber at 19:15 to find the tiered seating and press
table were missing. In their place were about 40 chairs in half a dozen rows on
the flat floor.
For those who have never seen it I should explain that the council chamber is
arranged a little like two U shapes one within the other, the outer U being a
couple of feet higher. Each seat has an associated table for writing or whatever
but except at full council meetings when more than 70 councillors and officials
may attend, the outer U isn’t in use. Bearing in mind the inadequacies
of the council’s sound system some members of the public choose to sit on the
outer ring. It’s become a commonplace at the Public Realm meeting, there have
been times when it has been filled with yellow jacketed motorcyclists. Last night
I chose to sit there myself, there being no other place equipped with a writing
surface. I was soon joined by five other people with the same idea. Almost at
once Kevin Fox, Head of Committee Services and Scrutiny, told us all we had to go.
I never speak to anyone at council meetings unless directly addressed which
happens only very rarely and Fox was ranting generally at all and sundry, so I said
not a word as usual. However at least two complained that they couldn’t hear
from anywhere else and given that the open end of the U had been filled in with more
tables for councillors, audibility would likely be even worse than usual if
anyone moved. They might not even be able to see everyone either.
Kevin Fox ranted in vain for several minutes like a kid at the supermarket
checkout denied a chocolate bar. His voice rose to only a little short
of hysterical. Eventually he flounced out saying he would argue no
more. The suspicion was that he had gone to tittle-tattle
to the meeting chairman, or possibly his boss, because a minute or two later Director
Paul Moore looked in.
If anyone had spoken to me I would have reminded them that the law now demands
that bloggers are provided with all the facilities required by a news
organisation but it would appear that both the Director and the meeting
chairman, councillor Cheryl Bacon, have rather more sense than Kevin Fox. Nothing
more was said.
For this evening’s meeting I am going armed with a copy of the relevant
Statutory Instrument.