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NALC supports remote meeting petition

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The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is supporting a petition by the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) calling on the government and parliament to allow local (parish and town) councils to have the choice to meet remotely.

Currently, local councils in England cannot hold meetings remotely, but this regulation was temporarily relaxed during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020/21. However, this ended in April 2021 when the temporary statutory regulations expired.

The government has argued that a permanent provision would require a change to primary legislation, and there is not sufficient parliamentary time to enable this to happen.

The lockdown period showed that remote meetings, aside from being a public health necessity, benefited local democracy and residents, with local councils reporting increased attendance by both councillors and the public and higher levels of transparency and openness.

On 19 January 2022, NALC was a signatory to an accompanying joint letter with ADSO, LLG and the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) to national and local media, covered by the local government magazine LGC.

Sign the petition

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