Yorkshire unitary calls for flexibility to conduct remote meetings

North Yorkshire Council has backed the Government's proposals to reintroduce remote meetings.

The unitary authority supported the proposals in its response to the Government's consultation, which closed last month (19 December).

However, the council stopped short of backing proxy voting, which was also consulted upon.

The Government launched its consultation in October 2024, asking for views on allowing councillors to attend meetings remotely and introducing proxy voting for occasions when an elected member may be unable to attend a meeting.

The Yorkshire authority said giving councillors "flexibility" to attend remotely was "a very welcome option", according to a report from the BBC.

The BBC also reported that the local authority believed up to half of its members could choose to attend council meetings remotely over a year.

A report from North Yorkshire's assistant chief executive (legal and democratic services), Barry Khan, recommended the council's consultation response support remote and hybrid meetings as and when appropriate. 

His report said: "It is recognised that in person attendance of committee meetings is important to local democracy.

"However it is also important to ensure that councils have the option and flexibility to use remote and hybrid meetings as and when appropriate.

"Therefore it is proposed to respond to the consultation to ask Government to give councils the flexibility (but not mandate) to have remote and hybrid meetings and allow local authorities to make their own local choice about whether to use the new flexibilities."

Khan's report added: "Conversely with regard to proxy voting, it is considered that this flexibility is not needed and it is difficult to demonstrate that a councillor has an open mind to a debate at a council meeting when their vote has already been cast."

The council's position echoes those of Lawyers in Local Government (LLG), the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO), who all backed remote meeting provisions.

However, there were mixed responses concerning proxy voting, with the LGA and the National Association for Local Councils opposing the policy.

LLG meanwhile suggested that a 'substitute system' was a preferable alternative.

Adam Carey