Local government organisations call for law change to allow remote and hybrid Council meetings to take place

In an article entitled ‘Local government groups issue model motion for councils to show support for choice to hold remote and hybrid meetings’, LocalGovernmentLawyer has reported that five local government organisations have asked councils to consider passing a motion and writing to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to show their support for local authorities to be able to hold remote and hybrid meetings.

The model motion put forward by the five groups is as follows:

This Council supports the petition launched by ADSO and LLG on 5 January with regard to remote and hybrid meetings. We agree to write to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities calling on the Government to change the law to allow councils the flexibility to hold such meetings when they deem appropriate within agreed rules and procedures.

In April 2021, in updates to our website posting entitled ‘Government to support High Court claim regarding councils’ ability to hold remote meetings post 6 May 2021‘, we reported on:

and

  • the view of Philip Kolvin QC (and others) that remote hearings before licensing sub-committees under the Licensing Act 2003 and subordinate regulations were unaffected by that judgment.

The Government’s response to its twelve-week Call for Evidence on Local Authority remote meetings (which commenced on 25 March 2021) is still awaited but this latest LocalGovernmentLawyer article on this subject-matter notes that:

In a Parliamentary debate on 24 January 2022, Secretary of State Michael Gove said he was “strongly in sympathy with the view that hybrid meetings should continue in order to ensure the maximum amount of efficiency”. He added: “There is a case for saying that certain significant local authority meetings should occur with all councillors present, but I want to proceed with the maximum amount of consensus to reflect the maximum level of efficiency and in particular of sensitivity to those who serve in constituencies…. where the rurality and dispersed nature of representation are important.”