Cheshire East Council has paid nearly £ 3,000 to rent buildings for meetings since the government scrapped on-line decision-making meetings for councils, writes Belinda Ryan.
So far, the local authority has had to rent buildings not owned by the council on seven occasions at a cost of £ 2,891 for city councils to meet in person and comply with Covid-19 restrictions.
Because since the 6.
Cheshire East Council chairman Sam Corcoran (Lab) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “All the factions of the Cheshire East Council have asked the government to allow remote meetings, but the government is still not moving.
“Remote meetings have proven successful. They saved costs, they saved travel time and they worked.
“I don’t understand why the government didn’t allow them to continue.”
“It’s not just the cost of hiring, it’s the cost of travel time, the cost of the officers’ time and the cost of travel to meetings Covid safe if they had been detained from a distance.”
Three weeks ago, seven of the 15 members of the Economic and Growth Committee failed to attend a meeting and were replaced.
Most of the absences were due to Covid-19 restrictions, with members having to self-isolate.
Conservative leader Janet Clowes said: “Democracy requires us to meet face to face, hence the change in legislation.
“However, at a time when we still need to maintain social distancing, there has clearly been an additional cost, and that is unfortunate.
“However, it is to be hoped that as vaccination increases and restrictions abate, the need to rent outside venues will decrease and we will not have to spend that money in the future.”
The council had to rent rooms at places like the Glasshouse in Alderley Park and Sandbach Town Hall to hold face-to-face meetings that were in compliance with Covid-19 restrictions.
