Local Government: Coronavirus

(asked on 14th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 5 May (HL3280), whether councils will be failing in their democratic duties if they do not hold a formal meeting within a six-month period; and what plans they have to advise local councils that the six-month rule should not apply during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Answered by
Lord Greenhalgh Portrait
Lord Greenhalgh
This question was answered on 27th May 2020

The Government has no plans to advise local councils that the six-month attendance rule should not apply during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 enable all local authority meetings before 7 May 2021 to be held remotely. Councils can thus continue to hold meetings whilst following Public Health guidelines, upholding democratic principles and maintaining a thriving local democracy.

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