Court rules remote meetings cannot continue after May 7
The High Court has ruled today that from May 7, council meetings in England must take place in person – dashing hopes that remote meetings would be able to continue after the coronavirus restrictions which allow them lapse.
The case brought by The Association of Democratic Services Officers, Lawyers in Local Government and Hertfordshire CC concerned whether councils already have the powers needed to hold online meetings through flexibility in current laws which date back to 1972. It received the backing of communities secretary Robert Jenrick.
The judgement by Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the Queen s Bench Division, and Mr Justice Chamberlain concluded: “The Secretary of State was correct in November 2016 and July 2019 to say that primary legislation would be required to allow local authority meetings under the 1972 Act to take place remotely. In our view, once the flexibility regulations cease to apply, such mee
I had my first jab yesterday and I’ve felt a little emotional about it ever since.
My experience of the past year has been no different to many other people’s – a year of drudgery, little human interaction beyond the family, of stress trying to balance work and family commitments – and a feeling I’ve been failing on both fronts simultaneously. For many that past year has been far worse, a year of unemployment, loneliness, cramped living and/or bereavement.
Speaking personally, a shot of Oxford AstraZeneca gave me the hope that the end is in sight, that things are now on the path to some sort of normality in which we can now leave the confines of home, travel becomes feasible and family and friends can be met once more.
By Monidipa Fouzder2021-04-28T15:48:00+01:00
The High Court has refused to declare that councils can continue to hold meetings remotely on or after 7 May in a case brought by local government lawyers – saying the matter is for parliament, not the courts, to decide.
Current coronavirus regulations allow councils to hold meetings remotely before 7 May. Extending the regulations to meetings beyond this date would require emergency legislation. However, the government said the legislative programme was already under ‘severe pressure’.
Lawyers in Local Government (LLG), the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and Hertfordshire County Council asked the High Court to decide whether the Local Government Act 1972 permits remote meetings in England when the relevant coronavirus regulations cease to have effect. Local authorities in Scotland and Wales are subject to different legislative regimes.
For the past 12 months councils have met virtually, as specified in the Coronavirus regulations. But the powers allowed by those regulations are time-limited – and will run out on May 7. That has raised questions about whether existing legislation in the Local Government Act (1972) allows councils to continue meeting virtually. And that’s important because Covid restrictions – which require social distancing – could still prevent councils from holding council or committee meetings in the usual way. On Wednesday (April 21) Hertfordshire County Council took the matter to the High Court. And they – acting in conjunction with Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) – asked for a ruling on the meaning of the Local Government Act (1972).
For the past 12 months councils have met virtually, as specified in the Coronavirus regulations. But the powers allowed by those regulations are time-limited – and will run out on May 7. That has raised questions about whether existing legislation in the Local Government Act (1972) allows councils to continue meeting virtually. And that’s important because Covid restrictions – which require social distancing – could still prevent councils from holding council or committee meetings in the usual way. On Wednesday (April 21) Hertfordshire County Council took the matter to the High Court. And they – acting in conjunction with Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) – asked for a ruling on the meaning of the Local Government Act (1972).