Northampton Borough Council ‘actively’ planning to hold first virtual meeting

The borough council has not held a public meeting since the planning committee met on March 17, six days before Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a lockdown across the entire country in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, the Government has amended legislation in order to allow councils and its committees to meet online. But although other authorities – such as Northamptonshire County Council, South Northamptonshire Council, Daventry District Council and even Brixworth Parish Council – have already held such meetings, the borough council has yet to hold one.

But a spokesman for the authority said it was planning to hold its first meetings soon. The spokesman said: “The council is actively making preparations to hold virtual meetings as allowed by recent regulation. We are making arrangements for the Planning Committee meeting on May 12 and Cabinet on May 20 to be held virtually. We are actively testing systems to enable this to happen.”

The committee meetings are easier to hold due to the relatively small number of elected councillors that would need to take part. But no decision has so far been confirmed as to whether a full council meeting featuring all 45 elected members will take place.

The spokesman added: “In terms of Full Council meetings, discussions are ongoing internally and it is highly likely that the annual Full Council meeting, including the election of the Mayor – but not the ceremonial element of Mayor making – will also be held virtually. The ceremonial element of Mayor-Making will take place as soon it can be done safely.”