Newsroom Archive

Ordinarily, the law requires councillors to be physically present at meetings but the Coronavirus Act and the temporary regulations override this during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new regulations mean councils can now hold public meetings by using video or telephone conferencing technology.

Telford & Wrekin’s first ‘virtual’ meeting due to be held will be a Planning Committee, at 10am on Tuesday 28 April. Participants and contributors to the virtual meetings, such as members of the public submitting planning applications or, in submitting questions to ask to Full Council will be invited to the virtual conference.

The meeting will be broadcast live and will be available on demand to the public on the Council’s Youtube and Twitter channels which in more normal times are  used to stream the Council’s Cabinet and Full Council meetings.

Councillor Rae Evans, Telford & Wrekin Council's Cabinet Member for Council Finance and Governance, said: “Although these are not normal times, there is still key council business that has to continue.

“Our Cabinet and Full Council and committee such as planning will meet, albeit remotely during the lockdown period. These meetings which are normally held in public will continue to be publicly accessible online.

“Since the lockdown began, Council members and staff have conducted business from home, meeting ‘virtually’. As a modern and forward thinking Council we are always looking for innovative ways of doing things and the situation we find ourselves in provides us with further opportunity to try something new. We are now applying that experience and technology to our public meetings as we continue in our mission to invest, protect and care to create a better borough.”

Telford & Wrekin Council’s meeting dates and papers can be found here.

To view the meetings, live or on demand visit Twitter.

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