E-Consultation

As part of my commitment to more open democracy and increased representation, I am holding regular E-consultation sessions with contituents.

The way it works is simple - from time to time I will send an e-mail to those who are willing to take part, asking their views on a particular issue. Topics will range from the local to the national, and those who want more detail on the issue in question will be referred to websites where there is balanced information on each side of the argument. Constituents are then invited to vote on the issue, usually with a simple yes/no answer. Those who wish to are also invited to give reasons for their decision. There is no obligation to answer any particular question and you can opt out at any time.

I will send out about one email a month - and of course you can ask to stop receiving such messages at any time and I welcome feedback on frequency and content.

I hope you will be interested in taking part in this experiment in using technology to make democracy more effective.

Sign-up to Jo's econsultation here

Results

• February 2008: Should state funding of political parties play a role in cleaning up how our politics is financed?

• November 2007: Would a Local Income Tax be fairer than the Council Tax?

• September 2007: Should more powers be devolved to the Scottish Parliament?