A body representing council lawyers has renewed its long-standing campaign for legislation to enable local authority meetings to be held virtually.

Emergency legislation was introduced during the Covid pandemic allowing councils to hold certain statutory meetings, such as planning and full council, remotely until 6 May 2021. In a judicial review brought by Lawyers in Local Government (LLG), the High Court refused to declare that councils could continue to hold meetings remotely on or after 7 May 2021.

Now, it has emerged that LLG and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) have written to the Labour government to seek permanent provision for virtual local authority meetings.

‘We were very encouraged to receive a response from minister Jim McMahon which was highly positive and emphasised the government’s intention to ensure that local government is "modern, efficient, flexible and diverse", and that they are keen to "break down barriers that prevent people from seeking to serve their communities", LLG and ADSO said.

'Acknowledging that hybrid meetings might be a ‘helpful step’ in achieving this, minister McMahon indicated the government wished to have an "evidenced-based discussion" on the merits.

‘LLG and ADSO have already replied to Mr McMahon agreeing that any change in legislation should be evidence-based and backed by a governance framework to ensure such meetings are run properly. We reminded the minister that councils ran hybrid and remote meetings successfully during the pandemic and that our two organisations supported our members extensively in ensuring that they operated within the law and their council constitutions.’

The organisations told the minister over 4,000 responses to the previous government’s call for evidence on virtual local authority meetings were unlikely to have changed significantly and could helpfully inform discussions.

‘We are extremely encouraged by these early communications and we will work with our partners to support both the evidence required and procedural framework needed to bring about remote provision to ensure an inclusive and modern local government sector,’ LLG and ADSO added.

Primary legislation would be required to make express provision for virtual local authority meetings permanent. Any changes would apply to England only. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 makes express provision for Welsh local authorities to meet remotely.

 

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