Over-running meeting webcasts cost council thousands

Aberdeen City Council live streamed 173 extra hours of meetings over two years at a cost of £11,882

Over-running and extra council meetings in Aberdeen have cost the local authority nearly £12,000 in additional webcasting costs over the past two years.

A report to go before councillors on Wednesday will call on them to review proposals to address the amount of adjourned, reconvened and requisitioned meetings.

Aberdeen City Council is looking to address the issue due to the costs of the extra meetings having to be called, and sessions regularly running into new days or beyond their allocated time.

Concerns have been raised about the impact this has on the council's ability to conclude business, and on councillors' and officials' time.

Aberdeen City Council has a £26,691-a-year contract for webcasts - based on 120 live hours.

However, between the 2023 financial year and the end of 2024/25 the live streams went 173 hours over that.

This cost the council an additional £11,882 over that period, a cost of £68.68 per hour.

Councillors have called 13 special or requisitioned meetings over the past year.

The report suggests "this could be managed better".