WILTSHIRE Council is to begin broadcasting meetings live on the internet from tomorrow.

The move is aimed at making meetings available to more people, giving them the chance to see the actions of councillors and find out why – and how – the decisions are made.

People will be able to watch the debates in full, with tomorrow’s full council meeting the first to be broadcast.

If people are not able to watch the meeting as it takes place, they will be able to watch all of it, or parts of it, at a later date, with each meeting being archived and accessible for six months.

Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott said: “Making our meetings more accessible to people is very important to us and we are delighted to be able to announce our new webcasting broadcasts during local democracy week, as we think it is an important new channel to help us reach people in a new way.”

It is one of a number of activities taking place to encourage people to get more involved in local politics.

Wiltshire Council is also putting together a resource pack to help children understand how their local councillors make difficult financial decisions.

Children will learn, through discussion and role play, how best to use scarce financial resources as they debate the merits of the different projects and vote to decide which should be funded and which should not.

Teachers are also being encouraged to get in on the act by playing the role of heckling members of public.

Schools are being encouraged to visit the council to see democracy in action, or let the council know if they would like someone from the council to visit them.

Last year, Swindon Council debated whether to introduce live broadcasts, but the plan was rejected due to a lack of demand.

The cost was estimated to be about £100 a meeting, which many members felt was too much, given how few people would probably watch the action.

Swindon Council leader, David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick), said this remains the case and there are no plans to revisit the issue.

He said: “If Wiltshire feel they can do it then I wish them luck but it is not something we will be doing.

“When we are looking to make savings I don’t think it is a cost I could justify when speaking to people on the doorstep.”