9 April 2021As reported in The MJ magazine, Robert Jenrick MP has backed the legal challenge on remote meetings being brought by Lawyers in Local Government (LLG), Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and Hertfordshire County Council and stated that he will be ‘supporting the action…as we believe there is a case to be heard. We recognise remote or virtual meetings by councils, have widened access to local democracy and we will be keen to lock in the good work councils have undertaken during the pandemic to embrace technology. However, appropriate safeguards must be in place to ensure transparency, scrutiny and probity are maintained.’
His comments follow the letter sent out to councils last week by local government minister, Luke Hall MP, advising that government could not find time to bring forward the required primary legislation.
The legal challenge will be heard in the High Court on 21 April and SLCC will report as soon as the verdict is available.
