Rother council to suspend public meetings

Rother District Council is set to suspend all its public committee meetings in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bexhill Town Hall SUS-161205-111335001Bexhill Town Hall SUS-161205-111335001
Bexhill Town Hall SUS-161205-111335001

At an extraordinary full council meeting on Monday (March 23), Rother councillors are set to decide on whether to suspend all scheduled committee meetings and delegate decision-making powers to senior officers until further notice.

In a report from senior officers, a council officer said: “The current incidence of the Covid-19 virus both nationally and internationally is beginning to cause disruption to a range of businesses and social activity. 

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“There may be a need for additional preventative measures to be introduced nationally to help contain or delay the spread of the virus. 

“This includes potential advice to individuals or groups to self-isolate for periods of time, and/or for more general restrictions on travel or gatherings. It is also likely that more people will become unwell as a result of the virus. 

“All scheduled committee meetings will therefore be suspended until the position improves. This will be reviewed weekly with the leader of the council and all members will be advised when meetings resume.”

If agreed, most council decisions are to be postponed where possible, but time critical decisions may still have to be made.

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In such an event, the report says, the decision would be taken by the council’s executive directors in consultation with a minimum of four members of cabinet, one of whom to be the leader or deputy leader, to make a decision remotely. 

Non-executive decisions – such as those by the council’s planning and licensing committees – would also be taken by senior officers, but done in consultation with the chairman of those committees. Again, these would only be done for “critical business that cannot wait”, the report says.

Any decisions taken by officers under these delegations will be reported to the subsequent meeting of the relevant committee when meetings resume.

Councillors would also change their attendance requirements to ensure members continue to meet minimum attendance rules.

All the above would require a temporary change to the council’s constitution.

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