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Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) are delighted with the Government’s recent announcement that Councils will be given the option to hold remote meetings. This is a real step forward for local democracy. We have campaigned for this since the temporary covid regulations expired in May 2021. We supported our members at the beginning of the first lockdown by publishing guidance notes for the holding of remote meetings and we provided evidence to the previous Government to show why the right to convene such meetings should be extended beyond the May 2021 deadline. We are grateful to the current Government for its positive approach to this issue, for the proposed changes to the standards regime and to local government more generally.
We expended significant time and financial resources in 2022 to apply to the High Court for a change in the law to permit remote meetings but we were unsuccessful in our application. We then submitted comprehensive evidence as part of the previous Government’s call for action in 2022, along with over 4,300 other organisations and individuals.
As part of this evidence and in regular correspondence with current and previous ministers, we have offered our professional expertise to work with the Government and the Local Government Association to agree a governance framework to provide assurance that these meetings will comply with relevant legislation and Council Constitutions. That offer still stands and we hope that it will be taken up.
We look forward to the Government publishing more detailed proposals including a timetable for implementation. We will also contribute fully to the consultation process launched on 24 October but hope that the Government will also take into account the 4,300 responses from the Call for Action back in 2022.
Quotes:
John Austin – ADSO Chair
“I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in our campaign, including NALC who used their considerable influence to have the matter debated in the House of Lords during the passage of the Levelling Up Bill earlier this year. Both ADSO and LLG have shown tremendous tenacity, perseverance and professional expertise during the long campaign. I am proud that we have achieved what we set out to do. Now our wish is to ensure that such meetings are held to the very highest governance standards and that local democracy thrives as a result.”
LLG
Deborah Evans- LLG CEO
“LLG are incredibly proud of the hard work not only we and ADSO played in achieving this landmark outcome, but the collaborative effort of the sector as a whole, in coming together with persistence and fortitude to gain this vital provision. This is all about ensuring effective democratic participation and enabling a truly reflective and diverse representation of councillors serving their communities. Capitalising on our previous work, we are committed to embedding strong, ethical governance into the process which enables local choice and agile, robust decision making”.
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John Austin
Helen Bennett
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