Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has promised “transparency” in virtual planning, after parliament approved emergency legislation to allow remote meetings.
Jenrick presented eight-pages of new regulations yesterday which will permit local authorities to attend meetings remotely.
The regulations require that members can be heard, and where possible seen, and agendas and committees are available to the public.
He said: “Local authorities are the backbone of our democracy and they are playing a vital role in the national effort to keep people safe. This change will support them to do that while maintaining the transparency we expect in local decision-making.”
Jenrick has spent the past week working with local authority leaders and the Local Association to deliver the legislation, after it received Royal Assent on 25 March, in section 78 of the Coronavirus Bill.
James Jamieson, chairman at the LGA, said: “Councils need to respond quickly and make very many key decisions. They can now do so while remaining open, transparent and accessible to the public.”
“The regulations give a great deal of scope for creativity and flexibility by local authorities when deciding how to hold virtual meetings, and are not prescriptive on the technological solutions to be adopted,” said Nicola Gooch, planning partner at Irwin Mitchell.
The main requirement is that meetings are “open to the public”, said Gooch.
“It may be possible for a number of authorities to adapt solutions that they already have in place for live streaming council meetings or to move to other commercially available video or telephone conferencing facilities.”
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