Emergency committee keeps council running

Argyll and Bute Council’s leader says she expects that issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic will take up much of the time of a new emergency committee.

Aileen Morton will chair the ‘business continuity committee’ of nine councillors, which was set up last week, with chief executive Pippa Milne also being given executive powers.

The committee is due to have its first meeting, which will be conducted electronically, on Thursday April 16.

Papers are expected to be published on the council’s website by the end of this week.

The committee’s other members will be councillors Gary Mulvaney, Sandy Taylor, Lorna Douglas, Robin Currie, Rory Colville, Kieron Green, Yvonne McNeilly and Douglas Philand.

All other meetings of the council and all its committees have been suspended for the duration of the virus lockdown.

Councillor Morton said: ‘The aim of creating the new business continuity committee is to ensure we have a manageable way of continuing to undertake essential council business, while having a limited impact on the council’s IT infrastructure.

‘Hundreds of staff are now working at home who were previously in offices – everyone from registrars to our economic development team providing support for businesses to our teachers providing support for pupils.

‘My expectation is there will be a mix of items coming to the committee over the next couple of months – although most will either relate to the COVID-19 response or to more time-sensitive matters of other council business.

‘Like other changes to council services, this approach will be kept under review and may be amended to ensure effective working.’

A full meeting of the council last week, also conducted electronically, took only a few minutes to agree the committee should be established.