Hertfordshire County Council has broadcast a meeting on the internet for the first time, as part of a drive to keep residents better informed.

The meeting of the full council – which included the budget-setting for the next year – was webcast live on Tuesday, February 19.

And footage from the meeting is still available to view on the county council’s website, and will be so for the next year.

Council chief executive Owen Mapley believes the webcasts will open up democracy and provide more information to residents.

He said: “In consultation with leaders from each of the political parties, we are embracing new technology to enable us to start broadcasting council meetings online and open up the democratic process to a much wider audience.

“This is part of the digitally-led approach we are taking in our communications with residents to keep them more informed about council services – in this case  in real-time ­­— and how we make decisions about the services we deliver for them.”

Initially the webcasts will just broadcast meetings of the full council. But there are plans to look at whether other meetings could be broadcast in the future.

Other district and borough councils within the county who already webcast some of their meetings include East Herts, Welwyn Hatfield, St Albans and Hertsmere.