The PCC undertook its first public visit to the East Midlands recently when it held an Open Day and Question Time event in Nottingham. The event formed part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to raise public awareness of its role through explaining in a public forum how the Commission works, and how it reaches its various decisions.

Held at the Galleries of Justice in the city’s Lace Market district, the meeting was designed to be as open and informal as possible, with attendees encouraged to put their questions to a panel of experts chaired by PCC Chairman, Baroness Buscombe. Also on the panel were the PCC’s Director Tim Toulmin; one of the Commission’s public Commissioners, Vivien Hepworth; and the editor of the Nottingham Evening Post, Malcolm Pheby.

Audience members represented a range of local organisations and interest groups, including Victim Support, Kashmir Watch International, the Chamber of Commerce and the East Midlands Development Agency. A wide variety of questions were asked, including around the way that the press reports on inquest hearings, how the PCC makes decisions on privacy, and the difficulties posed by the paparazzi. Two individuals who had previously complained to the PCC also attended, and were able to speak in detail about the history of their complaints with panel members.

The hour and a half-long discussion was thorough and varied, ranging from issues that were of particular importance locally, to wider debate around press freedom, the effectiveness of sanctions available to the PCC, and in what ways a system of press regulation controlled by legislation would differ.

Audience members were also able to ask questions on a more private basis in an earlier ‘surgery’ session run by PCC staff. The event is split in this way so that anyone who does not wish to speak publicly, or just wants to pick up some information, is able to do so.

Open Days are generally held two to three times a year in various regions of the UK. The PCC has previously visited Belfast, Cardiff, Manchester, Ipswich, Oxford, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow. For more information, please click here.

Information is always posted on our website in advance and, as well as writing to several hundred local contacts whom we think will have a particular interest in the PCC, we advertise our Open Days in local arts venues, libraries and community centres Everyone is welcome to attend. If you would like more details of our events programme, or would like to suggest a town or city for us to visit, please contact the PCC’s Information and Events Manager, Tonia Milton, on tonia.milton@pcc.org.uk or 020 7831 0022.

To read a report of the event in the Nottingham Evening Post, please click here

Baroness Buscombe was also interviewed by BBC Radio Nottingham. You can listen to this interview here

Nottingham Evening Post Editor, Malcolm Pheby with Baroness Buscombe.
Photo courtesy of Nottigham Evening Post.