Cllr Marsh has indicated she is shielding, and also had prior work commitments
I’m afraid I have not and cannot find any reference. Kindly fill me in?
Quote from @Lou elsewhere:
Eastleigh Borough Council has decided Councillors who watch ‘Full Council’ on YouTube Thursday can be marked as in attendance, despite not voting or participating?! Don’t get me wrong not having 2metres between everyone is crazy & I understand people being worried, but no rollcall or way to prove seems laughable. At least when it was teams a roll call and each Councillor could be shown. Councils really need the ability to host virtual meetings officially or hybrid meetings. This is not good for democracy.
Seems like Eastleigh Borough Council is working around having an accurate attendance record!
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Disappointed that there’s no Facebook post detailing the same. Seeing as Mr House doesn’t believe in this forum… sigh
@afdy and @Sam4eastleigh , ignore previous. I see it now, and the response from @TParkEastleighN says “it’s not us, its the team in Blue” :-
"This current Tory government made this terrible decision, the Local Government Association then challenged it in the High Court but sadly the judges ruled it wasn’t able to make a decision, saying it was a job for Parliament.
This is a highly hypocritical move by the government as they’re still allowing some MPs to attend Commons sessions virtually.
Councillors across the country who for health reasons are having to shield still are being denied the ability to properly represent their residents.
I would hope that Paul Holmes MP will strongly lobby for this decision to be reversed, but that would mean going against his own party, something he’s not yet done…not even to secure continuation of Free School Meals in the Commons vote last October.
So if I understand correctly, Westminster has outlawed online meetings from May 6th, which is “why EBC must take this action”…
So Councillors can have a YouTube meeting instead, and write comments that may never be read or may be “zoombombed” and lost or similar.
Remind me, where is YouTube again?
The council officers would have made the decisions on the specifics, probably after taking advice from the Local Government Association and/or legal advice.
Stop trying to dress this up as a political decision by the Lib Dems.
The council officers would have made the decisions on the specifics, probably after taking advice from the Local Government Association and/or legal advice.
Nothing political about it whatsoever to say otherwise is cynical point scoring at its worst.
@TParkEastleighN I’m sorry, are you kidding? “Nothing political about it”. This is like the definition of politics isn’t it?
The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
This decision was taken by the local Lib Dem led government @ Eastleigh Borough Council?
Are you suggesting it is right that Eastleigh Borough Council consider an elected councillor as “present” at a meeting based on them having said they have watched a YouTube video?
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Will be interesting to see how this goes. If 9 Councillors didn’t attend the AGM (and only 2 had prior commitments) how many will actually want to go out in this lovely wet weather and go in?
I’ll Tally it regardless. Apparently its going to be made explicit that the Councillors were there via YT (and so automatically excluded from voting etc., but that’s a separate issue). So it might just mean a slight tweak to the table if it’s as clear as that.
Thanks for the clarity @afdy, @Sam4eastleigh and @TParkEastleighN , and @Lou for the original heads up
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I did check with Officers that it was correct that councillors watching remotely would be recorded as ‘in attendance’. The problem I have with this is that they can not participate or be formally signed in as present on YouTube. I fully understand councillors should feel safe…I am highly nervous having found out they can’t provide us with the 2m socially distance seating, especially with far more than 6 people in the room. However, that is a broader debate with government. I also do not mind if people can genuinely not attend. But, I do not understand why people are not just giving their apologies.
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The arrangements that were sent out yesterday have now been clarified. Councillors that are unable to physically attend the Council meeting will be recorded as having sent apologies (provided they send them!). The information sent out yesterday was sent in error. Good to get this corrected and all councillors have been advised.
I have sent my apology for the meeting tomorrow as my child will be in hospital for surgery so that is where I will be. I have been sent a link so I can watch the meeting but will not be attending.
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This wasn’t a decision by the LibDems, & no, public pressure had nothing to do with this. Nor was there any u-turn.
Council officers issued the guidance in error, this was queried by several councillors across party lines. And the correct guidance was issued the next day.
After all the controversy of YouTube, it is worth noting that Eastleigh’s Full Council meeting will be broadcast here
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I hope your child’s surgery has gone (or will go) as planned, and hope they make a full recovery
Successful surgery and although in pain will make a good recovery. Sadly I missed part of the meeting due to the sound issue but was logged in. Looking forward to being at the July meeting in person.
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Full Council Meeting Review - 27 May 2021:
Attendance being updated by EBC as I write this - so far 21 of 25 Councillors attended - but this is being updated and I’m sure EBC will do the full list soon. Most of the FB focus lately is on Cllr Bearder, who sent his apologies
Meeting duration - 62 minutes.
The local plan modifications were in focus today. While unfortunate sound issues blighted the meeting, when the streaming did get underway with sound, Councillors were discussing the local plan. 8 Councillors were heard in total.
Many Councillors supported it, and the motion was carried. However there were questions and a growing sense of unhappiness from the Bishy Independents (Cllr Tidridge and Cllr Parker-Jones) due to some of the wording in the Plan, and the increasing lack of gaps between the areas and neighbouring areas (for example Fair Oak and Colden Common) and a question on certain text of the plan was asked (and went unanswered) from Cllr Broomfield.
A big point is that the Strategic Growth Option (SGO) is NOT part of the Local Plan and has been removed
Cllr House closed the point saying that the local plan is good for Eastleigh, and it will still keep areas distinct and not coalesce, and also allow EBC to keep developers in check. There was mention of the various site types which will be developed on. The concerns of the Bishy Independents were dismissed by both Cllr House and Cllr Bicknell before him
There were 2 members of the public also present at the meeting. The next Full Council meeting is on 22 July 2021 at 7pm at the Holiday Inn
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