DYMCHURCH PARISH COUNCIL

Return to Face-to-Face Meetings

The law allowing Ciouncils to hold meetings on line has now been repealed meaning that members of teh Council must meet face to face in order for any decision to be lawful. A risk assessment has been created to help keep our members safe and those attending the meeting

Risk Assessment-CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ASSESSMENT

COVID-19 is an illness that can affect your lungs and airways and is caused by a virus called Coronavirus. The symptoms can be mild, moderate, severe, or fatal. Even if you have been vaccinated you can carry, catch, or spread the virus. A risk assessment has been created to reduce the chance of spreading the virus, to give confidence to Council members when attending meetings and to seek to make attending meetings as safe as possible for members of the public who choose to attend-

A risk assessment will not eradicate all risk and personal responsibility consideration for others plays an important part in enabling the Council to carry out their business-

WHY THE COUNCIL CAN HOLD FACE TO FACE MEETINGS

• A Council meeting (Councillors, staff and any others who are there as part of the formal business of the meeting) is an exception to the gathering’s restrictions (because it is a gathering for work, community or voluntary purposes) and so is not bound by the rules of six or thirty.

The specific legal citation should you need it is s3 (4(a)), Part 1, Schedule 3 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ uksi/2021/364/schedule/3;

• Members of the public may attend the Council meeting indoors in any number limited only by your venue's COVID capacity. This is because the gathering of the public to observe your meeting is a 'permitted organised gathering' as defined by the regulations thus: 'A gathering is a permitted organised gathering...if it takes place on or at premises, other than a private dwelling, which are (a)operated by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body, or (b)part of premises used for the operation of a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body.'

The specific legal citation should you need it is s5(2), Part 1, of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 https:// www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/364/regulation/5

• This means that Councillors and staff can meet indoors with no restrictions on numbers other than your COVID risk-assessment of your venue, as a Council meeting is explicitly exempt from the current COVID gatherings restrictions.