Some councillors could return to the council chamber for meetings

This was revealed at a meeting of the Economy, Residents, Communities and Governance scrutiny committee on Thursday, January 28, as councillors looked at savings proposed by the legal and democratic department for the 2021/22 budget.

The draft council budget proposes a 3.9 per cent hike in council tax as well as £11.828 million in cuts or savings, that need to be made during 2021/22.

The burden for the legal and democratic services is just under £100,000.

Head of legal and democratic services, Clive Pinney, explained that councillors’ travelling expenses pot would be reduced by £28,000, from £78,000 to £50,000.

Mr Pinney said: “Last year there has been very little expenditure due to Covid pandemic, and it’s hoped there will be savings as some meetings will continue online.”

He said that online meetings saved time and expense for the council and councillors.

As it is expected to continue using Microsoft Teams or Zoom rather than the Public-i webcasting platform, a saving of £40,000 could be made.

In the 2020/21 budget the sum had been put aside for the “increased costs” in webcasting.

Mr Pinney hoped the money would not be needed.

“We’ve managed to webcast almost as well as we should, save for the exception of translation facility, and hopefully we’ll accommodate that soon as well,” said Mr Pinney.

Committee vice-chairman Cllr David Selby said: “I’m hoping that the new normal will mean we meet remotely rather than in chamber or committee room.

“In my mind it’s a particular opportunity for us to take advantage of what’s been learnt not only for monetary reasons but also for climate change reasons, so that we don’t spend our time driving around the county.”

Mr Pinney confirmed that a review for staff as well as councillors was taking place.

Mr Pinney said: “But we do know that some would like to get back into the chamber for certain meetings.

“I don’t think it’s possible to rule that out, or at least not rule out a hybrid type of meeting.

“Hybrid meeting is the next stage where some are in the chamber and other’s participate from their localities.”

Councillor Selby believed hybrid meetings to be “the worst option” as it made meetings “more complicated.”

Cllr Jackie Charlton asked if there were figures to show how much online meetings had saved the council.

Mr Pinney said that he would need to find out and circulate it to the committee members.

As part of the savings proposed by Mr Pinney a review of the registration services staffing structure is also taking place.

Doing the same things with a reduced number of staff and a new online booking system is expected to save £31,000.