A NEW mobile phone app will make it easier for parish and town councils to broadcast their meetings online.

The app, developed by Essex-based Audiominutes, will allow audio to be streamed and recorded using a phone.

The company recently won the contract to provide online webcasting services to Essex County Council, which has now negotiated an option for all town and parish councils in the county to use the service free for a year.

Essex County Council leader David Finch said: “We want to ensure our public meetings are as accessible as possible, and over the coming year there will be hundreds of hours of audio being made available from full council, cabinet and committee meetings.

“The issue with this technology has always been the cost, with the necessity of having to employ someone to monitor and run the system during meetings and having to archive large amounts of data.

“This new system requires no additional staff time, is good value for money and will provide further transparency to the democratic process.”

The technology was showcased at the recent AGM of the Essex Association of Local Councils.