Chelmsford City Council meetings have been held in person since April, but some are going back online until Christmas.

This decision has been made because Coronavirus cases are on the rise again in Essex. We want to protect our members and do our bit in stopping the spread of the virus where we can this winter.

Online meetings have been popular with the public since many people prefer to attend from home rather than in person. The sound and picture quality of these meetings is also better than those streamed live from the Council Chamber.

A screen grab of an online council meeting
Council meetings were held remotely during the pandemic

Under the current rules, councillors are allowed to have remote meetings but they can’t take formal decisions online. However, they can authorise council officers to take decisions they’d like to make, which means that council business can continue as usual.

Some meetings will continue to be held in person when it is not possible for officers to act on councillors’ behalf.

Our main meetings will be streamed via our YouTube and Facebook accounts and you can view upcoming meetings here: https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-committees-and-decision-making/calendar-of-meetings/

If you’d like to ask a question or make a statement at a forthcoming meeting, you can find out how to do it on our website.

By Charlotte Maltby

Charlotte writes stories about recycling and waste, parks, economic development, local democracy and planning.

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