Derry & Strabane hybrid Council meetings started during Covid pandemic to resume this summer

It follows the expiration last month of the 2020 Coronavirus Act, which allowed for Councillors to attend meetings remotely.

At a Governance and Strategic Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 9, Council Officers said they had since received correspondence of a preliminary draft of regulations from the Department for Communities.

An officer said the draft regulations “essentially replicate the powers that existed under the previous Coronavirus Legislation, subject to an obligation to Councils to ensure that remote/hybrid meetings can only take place where they are adequately provided for in Councils Standing Orders”.

Sinn Féin Councillor Conor Heaney welcomed the regulations, as “all groups here were adamant that an option of hybrid meetings should continue”, and enquired about a time-line for its implementation.

An Officer said the Council’s Solicitor, Philip Kingston, was “confident of its return before the Council’s Summer break in July”.

People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin said he would prefer that “there wasn’t a break” in hybrid meetings, but the drafting was “fairly quick in terms of when the legislation expired”.

He added: “I think carers, people who have to travel long distances, and people who can’t come in physically for whatever reason should be able to fully participate and vote.”

SDLP Councillor Brian Tierney said there was a “quick turnaround” to create the draft regulation, and it was a clear message that the Council “had been listened to”.

Councillor Tierney concluded: “I think this is possibly, in my experience in Council, the quickest response we’ve ever had from a Government Minister. I hope it continues, because we need responses from them on a whole lot of issues.”

Andrew Balfour,

Local Democracy Reporter