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Mar 2021

Last Updated: 19/03/2021

Politics

Growing support for meetings to remain virtual post-Covid

by Suzannah Rogerson

| 20 Mar, 2021

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 council is now looking into how to continue this in the future.

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:

“People are clearly interested in the deliberations of their local council and we ought to continue to give them the opportunity.

“For me, one statistic sticks out above them all. On 26 January there was the planning committee debate on the Harrogate Spring Water application. 800 people viewed that as it was happening.

“You can’t get 800 people into the civic centre. You can hardly get that number of people into the Harrogate Convention Centre.

“If you then look at how many people viewed it over the next fortnight – 2,200. That one statistic proves we need to be giving people the opportunity to continue to view these meetings at a time and place of their choice.”

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Ripon Independents councillor Pauline McHardy added:

“We shouldn’t exclude members of the public that do want to listen into meetings but are too far away or perhaps don’t drive.

“These are supposed to be public meetings and we should be open, transparent and always above board.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Phillip Broadbank also said:

“It is time to do this. People really want to take part and see what their local authority is doing.”

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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Growing support for meetings to remain virtual post-Covid

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A previous vote against streaming meetings