Purpose

1. This decision approves the inclusion of the Council Chamber Microphone System Refresh into the Capital Programme 2025/26. This will enable the necessary funds to be made available to replace and install new microphones, voting modules, and supporting software for the Council and integrate them within the voting and conference system.

2. The Council Chamber is the main forum for Council decision making, discussion and debate. It also provides a facility that can be used for briefings, training and other events for Members and officers.

3. There is no legal requirement to record, publish or broadcast Council or committee meetings. However, the public and Members do need to be able to hear proceedings and there needs to be clarity over decision-making. There is however, an expectation by the public that Council meetings are recorded and published and this is now common practice amongst most Councils. As well as promoting openness and transparency, it also ensures an “official” version of a meeting is in the public domain. The Council Chamber is also used by internal Council departments, partners and third parties (including Coronial inquests) and has the potential to generate additional income for the Council as a meeting space.

Decision

To include the Council Chamber Microphone System Refresh Project in the Capital programme 2025/26.

Alternative options considered

Not upgrade the equipment - This option was rejected as the equipment is essential to the functioning of the Council Chamber’s audio visual System. The Council Chamber is the principal meeting room for formal meetings which are recorded and published on the Council website. There is an expectation by the public and Councillors that this should continue as it supports openness and transparency. Failure to replace faulty or outdated equipment would risk disruption to Council Meetings and compromise the quality of recordings and conferencing. The health of the existing microphone system has deteriorated rapidly in recent months and there are concerns that unless dealt with speedily that the Council may be left without a working system.

Conduct a Competitive Procurement Exercise For Full Chamber System Replacement – A soft market test was previously undertaken in 2022 (and has been reviewed recently). to explore alternative suppliers and costs. This exercise indicated that replacing the audio-visual system would be prohibitively expensive (potentially exceeding £300k). Whilst the health of the current microphone system has deteriorated rapidly the overall system remains fit for purpose. As such, a full procurement exercise was deemed unlikely to deliver better value or service outcomes.