Plymouth City Council is to keep local democracy running throughout the Covid-19 pandemic by holding all committee meetings online.
The first full virtual Cabinet meeting will be held on Tuesday 5 May, which all Cabinet members will join online using Microsoft Teams.
As with all council meetings, the public will be able to watch it live or a recording afterwards.
The Cabinet meeting will include briefings on the how the Council is responding with its partners to Covid-19 and how the virus is currently affecting Plymouth.
Ruth Harrell, the City’s director of Public Health and Council Chief Executive Tracey Lee will be providing briefings on actions being taken and Cabinet members will give updates on work in their portfolio areas to support Plymouth through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first fully online meeting of the Council’s Scrutiny Management Board will be held the following day, when chairs of scrutiny committees will be able to question Cabinet members and senior officers on the Council’s response to Covid-19 to date and its future plans.
Councillor Pete Smith, deputy leader and Cabinet member with responsibility for democracy, said: “We are currently dealing with urgent matters and decisions that are important to all Plymouth residents and it is as important as ever that we do this in public, are transparent and can be held accountable for the decision we make.
“While we’ve been webcasting our meetings for some years now, this will be the first time that all members will be attending meetings online. We will be sticking to the previously agreed calendar of meetings and will continue to hold all meetings online as long as is necessary.”
To watch the Cabinet meeting visit our website at 2pm on Tuesday 5 May.