Redbridge Council are still not holding public meetings after more than two weeks of “looking into” the technology to hold them online.

On April 4, the law changed to allow local councils to meet remotely, whereas before a minimum number of councillors had to be physically present to make decisions.

Despite a spokesperson saying on March 24 the council would “finalise arrangements” for remote meetings when the law changed, it is not ready to do so and has failed to say when it will be.

A tweet from March 23 shows a group of councillors had a “meeting on housing” via Skype, although a council spokesperson said this was not a public meeting.

Council may go more than a month without public meeting

A day later and more than weeks ago, a Redbridge Council spokesperson said: “We are looking into the use of technology to hold meetings remotely.

“However, current legislation requires a minimum number of councillors to be physically present at meetings for decision making to take place.

“We are awaiting necessary legislative changes and will then finalise arrangements to make meetings both safe and accessible.”

There are no Redbridge council meetings scheduled until April 27 meaning that, if this meeting goes ahead remotely, it will have been more than five weeks since the last public meeting.

A council spokesperson previously said decisions regarding the coronavirus response were being made without meetings, while all other decisions were being deferred.

Read more: Leyton redevelopment scheme given planning permission at council's first 'virtual meeting'

On March 23, Cllr Howard Berlin (Conservative, Fairlop) tweeted: “Just had Skype Redbridge Council meeting on housing. Well done @FarahKHussain and @RedbridgeLive for organising this so well.”

Campaign account @IlfordNoise responded to Cllr Berlin on Twitter: “We #IlfordSouth residents have been asking for tech-enabled real-time council democracy for ages.

“Now it serves your purpose to exclude us from the decision-making process using the same tech!”

It is illegal for a “decision-making body” in local government to exclude the public from a meeting unless it risks disclosing confidential or exempt information or to maintain order.

Even before the law changed, neighbouring Waltham Forest Council held a public live-streamed meeting on March 31, with four councillors present in the room and tens more viewers online.

Another neighbouring council, Havering, has also yet to make a decision on restarting public meetings remotely, according to a spokesperson yesterday (April 7).

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