Durham County Council has announced a return to live streaming of the majority of its meetings in response to new guidance.
The local authority will once again be live streaming all formal committee meetings from this Wednesday, December 15.
Only meetings that briefly open to the public before going private, including appeals and complaints committees, will not to be broadcast.
Under the new guidance published by the government following the move to Plan B last week, council meetings must still be held in person.
Strict infection control measures will be in place at meetings to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus, including wearing of face coverings unless exempt, social distancing, one-way systems and encouragement that lateral flow tests are taken in advance.
In order to reduce the number of people attending for safety reasons, the council is resuming live streaming of the vast majority of meetings, to allow people to watch remotely to reduce the risk of transmission.
Councillors who are not members of the relevant committee, members of the public and members of the media are strongly encouraged to watch meetings this way.
Meetings will be broadcast on the council’s YouTube channel. Details of how to watch online will also be provided on individual meeting agendas online.
Limited numbers of seats will be available at meetings for those who either cannot watch online or who feel they have good reason to attend in person.
Members of the public and media must request in advance to attend in-person by emailing [email protected] and places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.