Monmouthshire shown council budget via YouTube

30 January 2012

Monmouthshire County Council has turned to YouTube to inform and engage with residents about budget proposals.

Aimed at helping people access information on council spending when they can't attend public meetings, two online videos set out how the council will deal with funding pressures.

"People have busy lives and we hope providing information in this way gives more people a chance to get involved in what's happening in their communities," said council finance member Phil Murphy.

"By watching the two films we've made, people will get a good idea of the pressures we face and what we have to do. We'd love to hear people's suggestions and ideas on our proposals."

Murphy said the council used social media to involve citizens in local democracy and to be open. He added that the cost of doing this was minimal.

"We did it all on a phone and a flip cam so the only cost of doing this was our time and we think that it's an effective way of informing and talking to people."