Super-spreader meeting row just ‘a storm in a teacup’, says opposition
GOVERNMENT URGED TO INTRODUCE LAWS TO ALLOW VIRTUAL MEETINGS
NEWCASTLE’S political rivals have clashed over claims that a council meeting might have turned into a super-spreader event as covid runs rampant in the North East.
Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes aired fears about the civic centre becoming a hotspot of virus cases ahead of a full council meeting on Wednesday night, with the Omicron variant having sent infection rates in the city to record levels over recent days.
The Labour figurehead accused the council’s Liberal Democrat opposition of increasing the risk of a major covid breakout by refusing to do a deal whereby each party would agree to slash the number of councillors in attendance to half or even a third of their total, in order to limit the size of the gathering.
In the end, 47 councillors were present inside the civic centre’s banqueting hall on We dnesday night of a possible 78 - 29 f rom Labour, 14 Lib Dems, two independents, and two from the Newcastle Independents party. Labour councillor John-Paul Stephenson, the council’s cabinet member for public health, claimed afterwards that it “should not have taken place in person” and “should have been much shorter”. Under current legislation, local councils are no longer allowed to hold formal meetings online as had temporarily been the case at the start of the pandemic.
But opposition councillors insisted that the meeting was safe and dismissed the row as a “storm in a teacup”.
Ahead of the meeting, Coun Forbes said there was “a lot of concern” among councillors about the threat of catching covid. He added: “This is a situation of the government’s making but it is frustrating and disappointing that the Lib Dems are not willing to work with us to make the council meeting safer by reducing the number of members needing to attend.
“As a result there will be members coming only because their vote is needed and that increases the likelihood that the council meeting will turn out to be a super- spreader event.”
Coun Nick Cott, the Lib Dem opposition leader, said his party was “aware of the issues and we take them seriously”, but that he was not comfortable preventing councillors from exercising their democratic right to take part in the meeting.
He added that city residents would “expect us to find a way” to ensure that proper scrutiny of the council continues throughout the pandemic crisis, but that he hoped an agreement on how to proceed could be reached before February’s meeting.
Coun Cott said: “I don’t think it is something that will create a super-spreader event, we are sat socially distanced in a very big room.
“The director of public health has not come to us and said this and I think he would do if there was a concern, he would be well within his right to.
“I am pleased that the leader got in touch and we have genuinely tried to work with it. I look forward to us coming up with a solution for next time.”
After the meeting, Coun Cott said that the meeting “proceeded as planned and in accordance with the requirements” and that the row was just a “storm in a teacup”.
Coun Jason Smith, who leads the Newcastle Independents party, also agreed that the meeting was safe.
At the meeting, the council approved a cross-party motion put forward by Coun Cott and seconded by Coun Forbes calling on the government to introduce permanent laws that allow virtual or hybrid meetings to be held.