Exclusive: Labour offer to ‘work with’ government to allow remote meetings
Labour is offering to work with the government to find the parliamentary time to pass legislation allowing remote council meetings to continue after current arrangements come to an end.
In recent months, sector bodies have urged the government to allow virtual meetings to continue to take place after coronavirus regulations permitting them lapse on 6 May. But they have been told a backlog of legislation means it is not possible to find the parliamentary time to do this.
The government s decision last month not to extend the emergency legislation - while MPs will be able to continue to participate remotely in the democratic process - caused outrage across the local government sector.
Exclusive: Racecourse, church and theatre proposed for council meetings
A church, a theatre, a racecourse and a school hall have all been put forward as potential new venues to accommodate large numbers of councillors for socially distanced meetings when councils are set to return to face-to-face meetings next month.
Councils are being pushed into considering drastic measures in order to ensure they can hold meetings that adhere to social distancing guidelines while also enabling all their councillors to attend. In some cases, specialist sound equipment is being sought to make sure members can be heard in large scale venues that were not designed for such occasions.
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.
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.
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