Hertfordshire County Council meetings should be virtual, says leader

The leader of a county council has called upon the government to let council meetings go back online.

Conservative Richard Roberts, in charge of Hertfordshire County Council, said meetings should be held virtually due to the rise in Covid cases.

The government previously allowed them to be held online, until 7 May.

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said councils should "apply the Covid-19 guidance and ensure meetings take place safely".

In April, the council lost a High Court hearing to allow council meetings to continue online.

Emergency legislation was passed in the Commons last year allowing councils to meet online due to coronavirus, but that ended seven months ago.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Roberts said: "The current Omicron variant is putting a huge strain on everybody to be able to conduct our face-to-face meetings safely - and particularly at this time of year.

"The government should put back the emergency legislation - so council meetings can be held virtually."

He said at a full council meeting on Tuesday, 21 councillors had been selected to attend and three had to drop out because they had Covid symptoms.

"If we had had a full council meeting - with 78 councillors and 10 officers - I think we would have had a super-spreader event."

Without the changes it would be "extremely difficult to carry out the functions of local government," he added.

A spokeswoman for the DLUHC said it was working closely with councils and representatives "to ensure they understand and are aware of the full range of options available to them to minimise risks and concerns".

She added it would be "responding shortly" on a "longer-term decision" as to whether councils could meet remotely on a permanent basis.

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