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14
Apr 2020
Virtual meetings could 'drag council into 21st century' and open up democracy to a wider audience
The coronavirus crisis could help “drag the council into the 21st century,” according to the leader of one of its committees.
Coun Chris Aldred, who chairs the Overview & Scrutiny Commission at Harrogate Borough Council, said he hopes an enforced move to online meetings will lead to more modern ways of working in the long term.
He put forward a proposal for committee meetings to be available to view online in December, but it was turned down by the General Purposes Committee in January. Now, HBC is looking into setting up online meetings in order to allow its work to continue during the coronavirus crisis.
Coun Aldred, the Liberal Democrat representative for Fairfax ward, said: “It’s a slightly different scenario to what I was envisaging. If it does drag us into the 21st century, like a lot of things we will find when we return out of this present scenario, things will change in all sorts of ways.
“Some kinds of meetings where the public don’t have to physically come into the same place is a good thing – giving people more access to the decision-making.”
Rescheduling meetings
Earlier this month, the government issued new guidance to local authorities encouraging them to set up virtual meetings to enable routine council work to continue. Now, the council is working to find ways for officers and councillors to meet online.
A spokesman for HBC said: “Following the government go-ahead, we are now looking at what software would be appropriate to allow remote meetings to take place at Harrogate Borough Council.
“We hope to have this in place in the coming weeks and will begin with rescheduling some of the previous meetings that had to be postponed. Once we have a clear timetable it will be made available on our website and on social media.”
Rejecting the streaming proposal in January, the General Purposes Committee said the cost would be too high to justify with the expected low take-up from the public. It also argued that, with attendance usually very low, putting meetings online would only discourage people from coming to meetings in person. However, Coun Aldred - who chairs the Overview & Scrutiny Commission - rejected that argument.
“We’re quite a big district, from Pateley Bridge to Boroughbridge," he said. "These meetings are traditionally held at not the best time for people who have a job to come and see what’s going on.
“[With online streaming] people could dip in and out and see the bits they want, such as planning – people are interested in planning decisions. They could see what’s happening and what the arguments are.
“I really don’t think there’s anything controversial about it. Other councils are already doing it by putting their meetings on YouTube. I can only see it being a good thing.”
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