Hambleton District Council is set to become among the region’s first to relaunch the democratic process following emergency coronavirus measures were introduced.
Hambleton District Council, 86 per cent of the members of which are Conservative, will hold a meeting of the full authority by conference call next week.
The meeting follows the Government passing emergency legislation on Saturday which enables councils to hold meetings remotely, such as by video calls while social distancing measures are in place.
While the chief executives of local authorities have been given delegated powers during coronavirus lockdown, the latest legislation means key committees like cabinets and planning committees can hold virtual meetings.
Before Saturday, it was mandatory for council committees to meet in a room , and it is understood the legislation will only be in place for as long as needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most councils have confirmed they are now in the process of setting up systems which will allow members to take part in decision-making meetings.
At an informal meeting between North Yorkshire County Council’s chief executive and leading councillors on Tuesday, it was agreed virtual meetings would be hekd for those committees where decisions were being made that either had a direct bearing upon how the council responds to the coronavirus pandemic or which could not be deferred for some compelling reason.
With this is mind, it was recommended that only the executive would meet as scheduled, and the planning committee would meet as required to deal with urgent planning applications. Most other formal, public committee meetings will be postponed until September.
It was also decided to postpone the council’s annual general meeting next month.
A county council spokesman said it was not clear when the first virtual meeting would be held, adding: “We are progressing with implementing a technical solution which will enable the public to view and participate in virtual meetings where it is considered appropriate to meet. We need to ensure that we are able to implement a system of virtual meetings that complies with the new Government regulations and that the technology adopted works.”
It is understood executive members are keen to keep scrutiny involved in the decision-making process and so there will be opportunities for scrutiny committee members to be briefed on significant policy decisions where there is time ahead of that decision being made so that they can express a view.
The spokesman said the emergency decision making powers that the chief executive has exercised, during a period where no formal, public, decision making committee meetings are able to be held due to the pandemic, are under constant review.
In a report to the Hambleton council meeting, its chief executive Justin Ives states while remote participation is permitted by the regulations, “there are still technical challenges to overcome to make remote meetings work and to make it practical for all members to use”.
He said a remote decision taken by the planning committee could be open to challenge if it came to light that, as a result of a problem with the technology, not all members who voted had followed the full debate at the meeting, thus resulting in a failure to consider all material planning considerations.
Recommendations to meeting include formally granting the chief executive power to make decisions that would normally be made by elected councillors, in consultation with the members such as the leader of the council or planning committee chairman “as far as emergency situations allow”.
The report states: “In order for the council to be flexible enough to make decisions quickly to support the provision of public services, therefore, it is proposed in emergency situations to delegate council and committee functions to the chief executive, and if the chief executive is unavailable to the deputy chief executive.
“These provisions will allow proper decision making to continue, provide public accountability through appropriate member consultation and, just as important, allow the council to react to changing circumstances
throughout this emergency, whilst complying as far as possible with Government guidance on self-isolation and household isolation.”
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