High Court rules on public attendance of meetings amid confusion over rules
The High Court has ruled that where council meetings are ‘open to the public’, local authorities should allow members of the public to attend in person and that the requirement of public attendance cannot be satisfied through video streaming.
However, supplementary guidance that came out yesterday following a judgement against allowing remote council meetings also stated that the numbers of public attendees can be subject to current public health guidance - thereby allowing local authorities to address Covid safety concerns by capping the numbers.
The new guidance has crushed hopes that public attendance of council meetings could be limited to live streams amid concern over the risks of attendees contracting coronavirus.