Remote Meeting Guidelines for Members and the Public

As part of the Covid-19 emergency measures, the Government has issued the regulations that give local authorities greater flexibility in the conduct of meetings, including allowing members to attend remotely, and for public and press to access those meetings. These Regulations (The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020) came into force on 4 April.

Following the new regulations St Minver Lowlands Parish Council will be holding some Council meetings using ZOOM online meeting platform until further notice.

Requirements for joining a meeting

1. A desktop or
   laptop computer or a tablet or a smartphone capable of connection to the
   internet.
2. To effectively
   take part in the meeting the device should have a camera, microphone and
   preferably earpiece/phones. Use of speakers could cause an echo problem.

Before the meeting

• The Agenda
  will be placed on the website.
• Any member of
  the Public and Press who wish to attend a meeting will need to email the Clerk
  beforehand to receive the Login details.
• The App can be
  downloaded by visiting https://zoom.us/meetings. The website
  gives tutorials and demonstrations on how to download Zoom and how to join
  meetings.
• Members of the
  public are welcome to send any questions or comments via email to the Clerk
  prior to the meeting. These must be received two working days before the
  meeting and will be circulated to Councillors. These questions will be read out
  by the Clerk for inclusion in the meeting at the appropriate time.

The meeting

1. The Chair of
   the Council will Chair the meeting.
2. The designated
   member of the Council will Host the meeting on Zoom.
3. Members of the
   public will enter a waiting room on Zoom and wait for the Host to approve
   their attendance. It would be helpful if members of the public could name
   their video so that the Chair and Clerk can refer to them correctly.
4. All attendees
   will be muted on entry to the meeting. Members of the public, at the invitation
   of the Chairman, will be able to make representation during the public forum with
   the usual time restriction (2 minutes), and only once, in respect of business
   itemised on the agenda. This may be
   extended at the Chairman’s discretion.
5. Members of the
   public will be asked to put their hand up if they wish to speak during the
   public forum. They can also use the hand up icon provided on Zoom.
6. The Host will:
   unmute members of the public who wish to speak at the instruction of the
   Chairman.
7. At the
   conclusion of the public forum the Host will mute all members of the public.
8. The required
   standards of behaviour and discussion are the same whether in remote or
   face-to-face meetings. Members of the public who use or display inappropriate
   or offensive language and/or behaviour will be removed from the meeting to the
   waiting room. This includes any inappropriate backdrops on display on the
   video.
9. Under the
   provisions of the Local Government Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (Openness
   of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014) members of the public are
   permitted to film or record Council meetings to which they are permitted
   access, in a non-disruptive manner. By logging in and participating in this
   meeting, you consent to this. If you do not wish to be recorded, please be
   advised not to login.

NB: the above will be reviewed as required and may be subject to change.