Agenda item

To receive and consider the report of the Communication & Community Engagement Officer.

The Committee received and considered the report of the Communications & Community Engagement Officer.

Members were pleased to received updates on the improvements to the Council website pages and to hear that the issue regarding delivery of the annual newsletter to the Windrush estate had been resolved.

The Committee were also pleased to hear of the proposed changes to the Annual Town Meeting which included the introduction of an annual report, it was felt this would allow for more time in the meeting for discussion and also time to be dedicated to interactive engagement with the attendees.

Members had mixed opinions in relation to the use of Social Media platforms, it was agreed that the use of X would be scaled back and used only to advice of large stories or announcements, the account would be retained to ensure that the Council remained in control and to avoid any potential misuse by a third party.

A Member raised the recent changes to the Meta’s (Facebook) Terms of Reference, specifically regarding those that involve the use of hate speech, they felt that they did not provide protection for the LGBTQ+ community. It was unanimously agreed that a report be prepared by Officers for the meeting of the Council on 17 February to consider the creation of a statement to be placed on the Council’s “About” page of the Facebook site in order to show the Council’s support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Lastly, the Committee received a summary of the news stories for the 2024 year, it was noted that some stories or activity of the Council were missing, the Deputy Town Clerk advised that press releases were issued to the Witney Gazette however it was for the paper to choose what to publish; he further explained that the news section of the Council’s website could be expanded to provide an archive for the news of the Council.

Recommended:

1.      That, the report be noted and,

2.      That, X be used to publish important or stories of interest only and,

3.      That, a report be prepared for the Council Meeting on 17 February by Officers on Meta Terms of Reference & proposed LGBTQ+ Statement.