York council allows council tax debate to be filmed

Council tax discussions in York are to be filmed for the first time.

The City of York Council is to debate the 2012/2013 budget and plans to increase council tax by 2.9% on Thursday.

The Labour-run authority is to allow the meeting to be filmed as a trial-run before deciding whether to allow the cameras in permanently.

Following the trial, a plan to allow filming of all full council meetings would be drawn up, the council said.

Councillor James Alexander said: "We have nothing to hide and we want everyone to feel they are a part of one of the most important budgets of our generation.

"So, whether members of the public can attend in person or not, at least now they can have the opportunity to be able to see for themselves the difficult decision process we take."

The meeting on Thursday will not be broadcast by the council, but if the trial proves successful, Mr Alexander said the authority would consider broadcasting meetings online.