Legal moves made to continue holding remote meetings

摘要

Local government officers are seeking legal advice to work out if councils can continue to hold meetings remotely without a change to the law. The Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) are questioning the Government's refusal to allow virtual meetings to continue on the grounds there is not time for the primary legislation needed. Remote meetings, introduced to deal with the pandemic, have proved to be popular with councillors and the public, with attendance up as meetings are streamed live. Local government secretary Robert Jenrick recently told a sector call that he would 'love' virtual meetings to continue, but the current legislation runs out on 7 May and he said there were no plans to introduce the primary legislation needed.