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.

Content

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 Failure to replace faulty or outdated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.