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20
Mar 2021
Growing support for meetings to remain virtual post-Covid
There is growing support amongst Harrogate councillors for meetings to remain virtual post Covid in a move which could mean almost all decisions are made online.
Emergency regulations which allow local authorities to meet remotely were introduced in March last year. Harrogate Borough Council has since held all of its full council, cabinet and committee meetings online.
The rules are due to expire in May but as the government is said to be considering making them permanent. The council is now looking into how remote meetings and live streaming could continue in the future.
Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred, who has been pushing for the live streaming of meetings since before the pandemic, told the council’s general purposes committee on Thursday that Covid had shown there is a “clear” interest in people being able to watch meetings online.
He pointed towards recent meetings which have had more than 100 views on YouTube, and said:
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Ripon Independents councillor Pauline McHardy added:
Liberal Democrat councillor Phillip Broadbank also said:
A previous vote against streaming meetings
Before the pandemic struck and in January last year, Harrogate councillors voted against an idea of live streaming in-person meetings because of claims it would have been too expensive.
The costs were not initially made public but later revealed as ranging between £5,000 to nearly £48,000.
At the time, councillor Richard Cooper, leader of the Conservative-run council, said he could not justify spending the money when predictions of online viewership were low, but he now believes there should be a place for both remote and face-to-face meetings when lockdown is lifted.
He said there would be environmental benefits from councillors, officers and members of the public making fewer car journeys.
It was agreed on Thursday that the council would look into how decisions should be made in the future which could involve councillors only coming together for some in-person meetings.
A report to the general purposes committee said: “The view of councillors seems to be that larger, more complex meetings such as council and planning committee are better held in person.”
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