Blogging call to councillors in quest for links with the public

But they have been warned to be careful in what they write in case it brings their office into disrepute or is seen as bullying.

They are warned not to write anything in haste and not to post comments that they would not be prepared to make in writing or face to face.

They are also warned not to use council facilities for personal or political Internet postings.

A report to the council's Standards Committee says that Kirklees Council is leading the way in exploring new ways for councillors to communicate with the public.

Described as "innovative and far reaching", it is backed by the Government and is being overseen by a cross-party group of councillors, including Tory Andrew Palfreeman and Green Andrew Cooper.

Ideas being tested will soon be rolled out to all councillors in Kirklees.

This includes the chance to explore the potential use of social media to provide community leadership.

The report says: "It is clearly important that the transition phase from pilot to roll out is underpinned by sound advice and support for councillors within the context of the standards regime.

"Facilitating councillors to be the most effective community leaders they can be is a key outcome of the pilot, but this is strongly linked to ensuring that such councillors are armed with the most effective advice to ensure that they are having regard to relevant standards issues."

The report warns councillors not to write anything in "haste or anger" but adds: "The benefits for councillors as community leaders are potentially significant. Social media provides an opportunity for councillors to secure a breadth of information and intelligence about the areas and people they represent whilst also providing an opportunity to communicate with a large section of their electorate cheaply, timely and innovatively.

"By providing appropriate guidance to councillors the standards committee can help these tools to be used without creating unneccesary problems for councillors or damage to the council's reputation."

Kirklees Council is now urging councillors to familiarise themselves with a national guide to blogging issued by the watchdog Standards for England.

In a series of Dos and Don'ts, the guidance says:

Keep an eye out for defamatory of obscene posts from others on your blog or page and remove them as soon as possible to avoid the perception that you condone such views;

Be aware that by publishing information that you could not have accessed without your position as a councillor you will be seen as acting in your official capacity;

Make political points but be careful about being too specific or personal if referring to individuals;

An attack on individuals may be seen as disrespectful, whereas general comments about another party or genuine political expression is less likely to be viewed as disrespect;

Set appropriate privacy settings for your blog or networking site – especially if you have a private, non-political blog.

On the subject of things to avoid, the blogging guide says:

Don't blog in haste;

Don't post comments that you would not be prepared to make in writing or face to face;

Don't use council facilities for personal or political blogs.

Members of the Standards Committee will be discussing the report at a meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall tomorrow from 3pm.