The Government has launched a consultation on enabling remote attendance and proxy voting at local authority meetings (including town and parish councils). Enabling town and parish councils to permit remote attendance by members at their meetings has long been a campaigning priority of the National Association of Local Councils.
The Government intends to amend the law to enable remote attendance for the reason there there are circumstances in which it may not always be possible for members to attend council meetings in person.
Meanwhile, it is ‘seeking views on the possible introduction of proxy voting for those occasions when an elected member, due to personal circumstances, may be unable to attend even remotely, for example during maternity, paternity or adoption leave.’
The consultation, which runs until 19th December, seeks views from local authority elected members and local authorities at all levels. Responses can only be made via the government’s online consultation platform Citizen Space, here, while the consultation document can be read here:
Enabling remote attendance and proxy voting at local authority meetings – GOV.UK