A House of Lords committee is allowing the public to submit
views on video via YouTube.
It is the first time a Parliamentary committee has allowed
submissions which are not in the written word.
The Lords' Information Committee is investigating how peers and
MPs can do more to make people aware of what is happening in
Parliament and how they can contribute to its work.
The Committee's inquiry "People and Parliament" will consider
how Parliament can better communicate with the public.
Peers say people should feel able to interact with Parliament
rather than passively receiving news from Westminster. The
Committee says the use of YouTube "reflects the Committee's desire
to get as wide a range of peoples thoughts on the matter as
possible".
The Information Committee is hosting a web forum on the
Parliament website, allowing the public to submit their views on
some suggested topics online.
Lord Renton, Chairman of the House of Lords Information
Committee, said, "Decisions are made in Parliament everyday that
affect everyone in the country and it is important people feel they
can be involved in that decision-making process.
"We would love to hear from as wide a range of people as
possible on how they would like to interact with Parliament. By
using YouTube, and the web forum, we hope we will get comments from
people who might not have submitted evidence to a Parliamentary
inquiry before.
Parliament's use of new media:
- Parliament is on Twitter and has more than 5,500 followers.
Only 10 Downing Street in the UK government has more followers.
- Parliament's
Flickr
photostream has 124,000 views so far.
Links
The Information Committee
webpage with full details of the inquiry >>
Call for Evidence >>
The People and Parliament web forum >>
YouTube video of
Lord Renton launching the inquiry >>
Responses
so far on the People and Parliament Inquiry >>
Parliament on
twitter >>