TAMESIDE Council’s new Independent group has complained over instances of audio being cut off during meetings.
Now all councillors are to have clear instructions of when they can and cannot speak written next to microphones.
The newly constituted group, made up of five former Labour members plus St Peter’s ward’s Cllr Kaleel Khan, hit out after what they said could not be heard on several occasions during the full council meeting on Monday, March 2.
In a letter, they called for a n independent investigation as they believe the failures may be politically motivated and intended to silence opposition members.
However, the authority has told them they were simply speaking too soon to be picked up properly.
The Independents asked to know why the audio failures occurred, whether the issue was technical or manual, who has operational control over the microphone and live stream systems and whether any intervention took place during opposition speeches.
They also ask what safeguards will be implemented to prevent this happening again and demanded a written response, a full technical report and confirmation of the steps that will be taken to ensure this matter is resolved promptly and transparently.
In a statement, they said: “During the meeting, we were receiving live messages from members of the public who were watching the stream online.
“Constituents were texting to report that the sound was being cut off each time an opposition member spoke.
“They reported that when members of the Labour leadership were speaking, the audio was clear and uninterrupted.
“However, when opposition councillors spoke, including members of the Tameside Independent Group and the Conservative Group, the audio repeatedly dropped out or was muted.”
Cllr Khan added: “This issue is not new. Similar concerns have been raised previously. The repeated nature of these audio failures raises serious concerns.
“When I attempted to bring it to the council’s attention, I was instructed to sit down by the chair, ClIr Joe Kitchen, and no effective action was taken at the time to investigate or address the issue.
“This is deeply concerning. council meetings must be transparent, accessible, and fair. The public has a right to hear all elected members equally, regardless of political group.
“Any interference, whether technical or otherwise, that prevents opposition voices from being heard undermines democratic accountability and public trust.”
When approached by The Correspondent, Tameside Council pointed towards user error for the reason of the audio dropouts.
As a result, all Councillors will have instructions of how the microphones used work, including when they can speak.
A spokesperson said: ‘’Ultimately, meetings should be transparent, open and fair to all.
“The loss of sound at our previous full council meeting can simply be explained with technical reasoning.
“The light on the microphones used turns from green to red, a speaker’s voice will not be heard on the webcast until it turns red.
“The issue of lost sound seems to be a result of members starting to speak before their microphone was activated (indicated by the microphone light turning from green to red) and it affected a number of members from various parties, including Labour and Tameside Independents.
“In the future, clear written instructions will be placed beside every microphone at the next meeting to help avoid this happening.’’