Critics decry ‘£4k per meeting’ sound system costs

Anger has erupted after it emerged that nearly £4,000 has to be spent on a sound system when a Devon council holds a full meeting with all its members.

The cash for audio and recording equipment has to be spent each time Devon County Council holds a full council meeting in its council chamber.
Some opposition councillors criticised the move by the Liberal Democrat administration to hold an extraordinary full council meeting earlier this month to debate the possibility that Exeter City Council might delay its planned elections this year.
A total of 64 councils were invited by the government in December to make the case for postponing their May 2026 elections, and Devon’s administration called a meeting to discuss this even though it has no power or role in whether Exeter’s elections went ahead.
The final decision on whether any elections will be postponed in England this year will fall to the government.
The meeting also addressed the connected process of local government reorganisation (LGR). The pressure some town halls have said they are under due to LGR has been offered as a potential rationale for councils to request a postponement of this year’s elections, with the suggestion that overseeing a poll and reorganisation work simultaneously would be too challenging.
Councillor Michael Fife Cook (Reform UK, Yelverton Rural), the leader of the Reform UK group on the council, called the meeting “virtue signalling” and questioned the rationale for the meeting, the first of five such meetings pencilled in for 2026.
“My first reaction to this was, why are we having a full council meeting when there is only going to be one thing on the agenda, and we’re not even being asked to vote?,” he said.
“All we’re being asked is to contribute ‘hurty words’ for our county leader to give in response to the letter received from the government.
“Many would say this is all about democracy, and yes it is, but it should also be about cost effectiveness; how can we as a council continually complain we don’t have enough money to do even the smallest of things, when we expend so much on a meeting that could have been held electronically, or could even have been done with a round-robin email.”
Cllr Fife Cook had initially believed the cost of the audio and recording equipment was “nearly £3,000”, but the Local Democracy Reporting Service has found it is actually nearer to £4,000.
Councillor Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge), the leader of the council, stressed the costs were small compared to the overall council budget, and particularly what it was effectively being forced to spend on local government reorganisation – the process of abolishing and merging councils that has been mandated by Westminster.
“To put some perspective on this, the latest estimate is that local government reorganisation in Devon is likely to cost around £50 million,” Cllr Brazil said.
“If as a result of the meeting earlier this month, our response persuades the government to delay local government reorganisation, it will save Devon residents tens of millions of pounds.”
A Devon County Council spokesperson said the audio and recording equipment costs for meetings in the council chamber included setting up microphones, speakers and hearing loops, as well as the recording and streaming of the meeting.
“This is an interim measure until the council is able to update the sound system and recording system inside the council chamber,” the spokesperson said.
“It was felt important to hold that meeting in person, rather than over Teams or by email, and given the seriousness of the proposal, the leader of the council wanted to encourage all members to have the opportunity to have their say.
“Many of the members, across all the political groups, took the opportunity to put forward their views, and that will inform the leader’s response to government.
“This way, the council is able to respond with one voice.”