Agenda item

To consider a proposal in relation to the holding of full Council meetings for the remainder of the calendar year and also to approve the deemed absence, for the purposes of section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 for any Member joining the meeting by remote means.

RECOMMENDATION That Council:

1)               agree that for the remainder of the calendar year, and subject to no objections being received from the Group Leaders in advance of the meetings, full Council will be held in the Council Chamber at Shute End in accordance with public health advice;

2)               note in the case where an objection has been received that the Mayor expects the Leader of the Council to arrange meetings with the Group Leaders to discuss matters relating to the holding of the full Council meetings related to those objections; and

3)               approves any deemed absence for the purposes of section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 (‘the 6 month attendance rule’), for any Member who has joined the meeting by remote means.

The Council considered a report regarding the holding of Full Council meetings and remote attendance.

It was proposed by John Halsall and seconded by Chris Bowring that the recommendations set out within the report be agreed.

John Halsall indicated that the Covid case rate in Wokingham was currently 350 per 100,000, that the daily cases numbers had doubled from 12 July to 19 July and was expected to double over the next week.  Most cases were in younger, unvaccinated or singly vaccinated people, but the case rate in over 60’s was also starting to rise.  Whilst two doses of the vaccination reduced the chances of people catching Covid it did not completely remove the risk of passing the virus to others.  The same mitigations remained effective, including social distancing, hand washing, good ventilation and wearing face coverings.  The Council would continue to proceed cautiously.  

John Halsall went on to state that when arranging the Full Council meeting the choices had been to cancel the meeting, to hire an external venue at a cost and significant Officer time, or to hold a politically balanced meeting with reduced physical attendance.  Many other councils had suspended meetings and delegated decision making to the Chief Executive.  Wokingham had started all its meetings as soon as possible, albeit with some curtailment.  John Halsall asked Members to agree the recommendations, with the proviso that normal Full Council meetings return as soon as possible.  For 6 months those Members joining the meeting virtually would be considered as attending the meeting.

It was proposed by Clive Jones and seconded by Stephen Conway that recommendation 1 be amended as follows:

That Council:

1)       agree that for the remainder of the calendar year, and subject to no objections being received from the Group Leaders in advance of the meetings, full Council will be held in the Council Chamber at Shute End in accordance with public health advice.  

Clive Jones stated that the Government no longer allowed virtual meetings, creating a problem for Full Council meetings.  Virtual attendance did not permit councillors to propose or second a Motion or to vote.  It was not known how long the current situation would continue and holding Council meetings in their current format was not a long-term solution.  Whilst other councils had held meetings off site at a cost, the Liberal Democrats felt that better use could be made of the Shute End building, to enable all Members to attend.

Gary Cowan stated there was not a quick fix.  Whilst he understood the proposals, he was uncomfortable that those attending virtually were unable to vote.  He questioned whether the Government had been asked to relax the rules around attendance at meetings.

Stephen Conway commented that the right to vote was fundamental to democracy.  The Council Chamber alone was not large enough to accommodate all Members when social distancing.  He commented that the amendment did not require the use of alternative venues but provided an opportunity to consider a more creative use of the Council Offices to enable all Members to attend.

John Halsall, proposer of the original recommendations, did not accept the amendment.  He stated that the Council had been at the forefront of democracy and had restarted committee meetings earlier than many others.  Legal advice had been taken with regards to extending the Council Chamber to the whole of Shute End, for the purposes of holding a Full Council meeting.  However, this was not possible.  He felt that the original proposal created greater certainty for the next 6 months.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

RESOLVED:  that

1)               for the remainder of the calendar year, and subject to no objections being received from the Group Leaders in advance of the meetings, full Council will be held in accordance with public health advice;

2)               it be noted that in the case where an objection has been received that the Mayor expects the Leader of the Council to arrange meetings with the Group Leaders to discuss matters relating to the holding of the full Council meetings related to those objections; and

3)               it be approved that any deemed absence for the purposes of section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 (‘the 6-month attendance rule’), for any Member who has joined the meeting by remote means.