The majority of covid-related restrictions introduced for town hall meetings in Brighton and Hove are coming to an end.
Brighton and Hove City Council resumed in-person meetings in May last year but limited speakers to one per political group at meetings of the full council. And seats in the public gallery had to be pre-booked.
But yesterday (Thursday 21 July) councillors told that, from now on, the public gallery would be fully reopened. There would also be no limit to the number of councillors participating in debates.
The council had formally separated the “public engagement” element of full council meetings to try to reduce the numbers in the council chamber.
But from the next meeting of the full council in October, residents’ questions, petitions and deputations would once again be part of the main proceedings.
Residents taking part in meetings would, however, be given the option of doing so remotely.
Councillors, officials and others attending town hall meetings would still be required to wear a mask and take “lateral flow test” to check for symptoms of the coronavirus.
Green council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty said that the NHS had brought back mask wearing in hospitals and GP clinics across Sussex, as had other areas including Cambridgeshire, Hampshire and Wales.
He said: “Look around you. We are in the middle of yet another wave of infections. The subvariant of omicron BA.5 is even more infectious than omicron.
“ONS (Office for National Statistics) data shows that one in 30 people in the city is testing positive for covid-19.
“It may not be resulting thankfully in so many deaths as a result of the vaccination programme but let’s not kid ourselves that somehow is over.
“For example, hospital admissions of those presenting with covid are rising sharply. Let’s not forget in any case that long covid is devastating for tens of thousands of people and repeated infections increase the likelihood of ending up in intensive care.”
Councillor Mac Cafferty added that mask-wearing should never have ended in health settings and he hoped that it would return to public transport.
He said that Conservative proposals to limit the council to following government guidance on mask-wearing was “the height of irresponsibility”, adding that the group was “pretending covid has just vanished”.
Conservative councillor Vanessa Brown said that wearing a mask should be a personal choice. She said: “By still requiring a mask at council and committee meetings and demanding (a lateral flow) test to be carried out before attending, we are totally out of step with other councils and the country as a whole.
“No masks are being worn at Lewes, East Sussex and Worthing councils, nor the London Assembly. Even at Bristol, which has a similar Green/Labour make-up, there are no such regulations.
“We would prefer the government’s guidance which is advisory rather than mandatory.”
The joint leader of the Labour opposition, Councillor John Allcock, said: “We believe we need to look after our community. We need to look after each other. And we need to be good at prevention.
“We respect individual choice but we need to respect those who feel it is very important to wear a mask and feel the need to be safe.”
Further changes to covid-related rules for town hall meetings were delegated to the council’s chief executive Geoff Raw in consultation with the political group leaders.
Always good to be preached to by renowned epidemiology and virology expert Phelim Mac Cafferty. I think I prefer to listen to experts in the NHS and Public Health England.
Seems he is the one that is paranoid about the dangers even though it is now only apparently like mild flu for those that have been vaccinated.
Perhaps Phelim mixes with groups that refuse to be vaccinated?
Mask wearing never ended in NHS buildings. The leader of the council is an idiot and must step down