Government to pass bill allowing Local Planning Authorities to hold virtual meetings

The Government is expected to pass into law legislation which hands the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, the power to allow councils to hold virtual meetings. This also includes the power for Mr Jenrick to decide the manner and frequency of which council meetings can be held, including the provision that meetings can be held without any or all of the participants being in the same location. The detail of the measures will be set out in so-called secondary legislation, a parliamentary method of attaching detail to bills which have been passed. This could result in councillors and officers holding meetings over an online video link or conference call, while remaining at home.

These measures come as a response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the need for all groups and institutions to limit face-to-face contact where possible. As the law exists today, there is no provision for councils to hold meetings remotely. To add further urgency to the situation, we are rapidly approaching the time of year in which councils must meet their legal requirement to hold annual general meetings. These annual meetings typically determine committee memberships for the year ahead, as well as any reshuffles at Cabinet level. This also comes against the backdrop of Local Education Authorities facing appeals in the coming months from parents unhappy with their child’s school allocation.

Harrogate Borough Council, one of many local authorities to cancel all meetings until further notice, are already preparing to host meetings remotely. However, the Council announced these meetings would not be live-streamed to the public due to cost concerns, and it may be a number of weeks before the Council has the necessary infrastructure in place. It remains to be seen whether other local authorities will take Harrogate’s lead in taking a pragmatic approach to getting the democratic and regulatory processes running efficiently during the lockdown.

The legislation, officially known as Coronavirus Bill 2019-21,was introduced in Parliament on Thursday 19^th March and by Monday 23^rd had already passed through all House of Commons reading and committee stages with little to no debate. It is now in the Lords where it is expected to pass through the respective stages with similar haste. As the Bill’s name suggests, the provisions for remote council meetings will apply to all local and combined authority meetings until 7^th May 2021.

The news that such a provision would be included in the legislation was followed by this week’s newsletter from the soon-to-be-former Chief Planner, Steve Quartermain. In his final correspondence, Mr Quartermain encouraged Local Planning Authorities to be pragmatic, supported the use of technology to allow committees to continue functioning, and asked officers to consider the use of delegated powers where appropriate.

Communications Potential is closely monitoring the progress of the coronavirus legislation, and the anticipated secondary legislation from the Secretary of State. If you want to know how this will impact any existing or future projects, please get in touch on 020 7397 5212.