For the last two years or so, all meetings of Bridgend Council have been held virtually due to the pandemic. Staff and councillors have attended meetings from home or work using teleconferencing software.
Allowing remote attendance to local authority meetings became law in Wales despite the pandemic. At this week’s full council meeting, councillors endorsed BCBC’s new policy on it (pdf).
Some of the advantages of remote meetings include reduced travel (and the associated environmental benefits); fewer barriers that would otherwise discourage people from certain backgrounds from becoming a councillor and it also makes it easier to broadcast and record meetings, improving transparency.
Although not mentioned in the reports there are inevitable disadvantages and not everyone is a fan of remote meetings.
It hands a lot of power to the chair and officer over who can speak, leading to fewer “off-the-cuff” comments and interventions. There can also be technical problems that disrupt meetings (like poor internet connections, councillors not muting themselves and poor sound quality) and it may give a sense of being isolated if you can’t meet colleagues and officers face-to-face.
The new policy wouldn’t mean that in-person meetings would end. Although in-person meetings are yet to resume, under the policy councillors will have a choice as to whether to attend meetings in person or not (called hybrid meetings).
The council chamber and committee rooms will be adapted to allow for remote attendance.
During the full council meeting, Cllr. Ross Penhale-Thomas (Ind, Maesteg West) said hybrid meetings were useful for people like himself that have work commitments – though he admitted missing the camaraderie of the chamber. He called for voting software to be introduced as roll-call votes (used in virtual meetings) were “outdated” and took too long.
