Somerset County Council\ s Headquarters At County Hall In Taunton. CREDIT: Daniel Mumby. Free to use for all BBC wire partners. COUNCIL meetings in Somerset will continue to be streamed live over the internet even after the current coronavirus restrictions end. Somerset County Council and the four district councils have been conducting their business via virtual meetings since the first national lockdown was implemented in late-March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. The government revealed in a letter to civic leaders on March 25 that councillors and officers will have to begin attending public meetings in person again from May 7 – despite Boris Johnson’s roadmap banning large indoor gatherings until May 17 at the earliest.
Virtual Somerset council meetings set to continue | Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News
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Virtual Somerset council meetings set to continue
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Virtual meetings case ‘helped’ by Jenrick move
The court case seeking to allow virtual council meetings to continue after 6 May has been strengthened by the government’s decision to support it, the two bodies involved have said.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick said yesterday that the government would support the argument that virtual meetings were permitted by the Local Government Act 1972, despite the ‘sunset clause’ used to permit them in the coronavirus regulations ending on 6 May.
The Act allows councils freedom of action in various circumstances that could apply even though virtual meetings were not envisaged in 1972.
Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) are bringing the case as they fear the potential effects on their members’ health if they are required to attend all meetings face-to-face.