Causeway Coast and Glens councillors lambast decision to halt remote attendance of Council meetings

At a full council meeting on Tuesday, March 5, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s Chief Executive, David Jackson, said that the 2020 Coronavirus Act, which allowed for councillors to attend meetings remotely, would expire the following day on Wednesday, March 6.

Northern Ireland’s Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons, has asked the Department for Communities (DfC) to proceed on regulations under the Local Government (Meetings and Performance) Act 2021 instead, with no timeframe on its implementation.

Until the new legislation is in place, members must attend all full council and committee meetings in person if they wish to vote or participate in them. These meetings are held in the Council’s headquarters at Cloonavin in Coleraine.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Causeway Coast and Glens councillors agreed to contact the Department for Communities to acknowledge their opposition.

Sinn Féin Dungiven councillor Kathleen McGurk said it was a “shock” when members received the correspondence about the changes and argued that many councillors relied on the flexibility hybrid meetings allowed.

“The lead-in time for this was just not sufficient and given that every member here has outside commitments,” Cllr McGurk said. “Councillor is by and large a part-time role and that requires flexibility.

“The arrangements for the last number of years have shown how that flexibility has worked for the better and, if you look round the council chamber, the demographic has changed,” she added.

Cllr McGurk continued: “I have three young children and the flexibility to be able to attend from home allows me to be home, cook dinner, do some homework, then log on to meetings.

“It was remiss of the Minister to have not taken on board the hardship it might cause. The measure should have been extended while other measures are being looked at.”

Limavady Alliance councillor Amy Mairs agreed that the hybrid meeting option was “incredibly convenient for everybody” and added that she was worried about the ability of councillors with young children to attend Council meetings in person.

“The cost of childcare is absolutely extortionate and I don’t think we should be ignoring that,” Cllr Mairs said.

“Given there’s no transition period [from remote meetings] and it’s really rushed. For those with caring responsibilities or health concerns, who work from home, hybrid working should be kept on for committees and full council meetings,” she continued.

Ballymoney DUP Councillor Mervyn Storey said that the removal of remote meetings, at such short notice, was “totally and absolutely typical of how central government treats local government”.

“Yet again we’re told ‘you have to do it’,” Cllr Storey continued. “Then the killer blow is that they are looking at legislation, somebody has been drafting it all up, they’ll take another six months and spin the hamster yet again, they’ll consult, and all sorts of wonderful things.

“It’s typical of total incompetence of central government to treat us with respect,” concluded Cllr Storey.