The leader of Dudley Council, Councillor Patrick Harley, will be in the hot seat in a groundbreaking live video interview taking questions from people.

He will be interviewed by the deputy leader of the council, Councillor David Vickers on September 27th, from 6-7pm and while people ask questions in the live forum via the Facebook feed.

It is the first time the authority has held a live video public forum with the leader of the council, who today hailed it as a major boost for open and transparent local government. Councillor Harley said:

“We are always looking for new ways to talk to people and discuss ideas with communities. This really is a groundbreaking initiative for councils nationally and I am really looking forward to Dudley leading the way.

“People will be able to ask questions on any of the big ticket subjects at the moment from free car parking to some of the exciting developments we have on the drawing board at the moment. It should be a really useful and interesting night.”

People will be able to post questions to the Dudley Borough Facebook page which will be discussed by the leader and deputy on live video for people to watch. The pair will also be discussing some of the key issues including housing, regeneration and the recent Ofsted praise for children’s services.

The live broadcast is part of a series of community forums throughout September and October. People can attend the last two forums for this round on October 2nd.

Halesowen North and Halesowen South Community Forum will be at Olive Hill primary school, Springfield Road, Halesowen. On the same night Netherton, Woodside and St. Andrews and Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood Community Forum will be taking place at Savoy Centre, Northfield Road, Netherton. Both are from 6.30pm.