A council will begin conducting virtual committee meetings following rule changes to overcome the challenge of social distancing.

Councillors on Maidstone Borough Council will be able to gather online for sessions thanks to new legislation which has expanded the definition of 'place' to include online meetings.

It means that as long as councillors are able to hear and can be heard and, where possible, to see and be seen, then these functions of local democracy can go ahead despite the need for remote working during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Alison Broom, chief executive of the local authority, said: "We have been working with our committee chairs and vice chairs to have the first of these new types of meetings held by the end of April ensuring the important decision making functions of the council can continue.

"Our new arrangements will also give remote access to the public and press, enabling them to participate by telephone and listen to the meetings live.

"The new regulations also allow our Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be deferred or cancelled if necessary.

"A decision has been made to hold our next AGM in May 2021. The appointments made at our last AGM will continue until the next one takes place, this includes the Mayor, leader and committees."

Council officers have been working for the last few weeks on the technology and plans for how meetings will be conducted online.

The first meeting under the new system is expected to be the policy and resources committee on April 29 at 2pm.

This follows a vote in the House of Commons yesterday which approved new measures to allow MPs to participate in Westminster proceedings remotely.

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