Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allowing parish council meetings to be conducted virtually during the ongoing covid-19 outbreak.

We launched a call for evidence on 25 March to gather views and inform a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis. The call for evidence closed on 17 June.

The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and the Government will respond shortly.