Government pledge to scrap discriminatory ban on online attendance ‘could be first step towards inclusion’

Disabled politicians have welcomed the government’s pledge to scrap the ban on councillors attending meetings online, which should see an end to some of the discrimination they face when trying to play a role in local government.

Labour’s deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, has promised to change the law to allow disabled councillors and other elected members to take part in meetings remotely if they face barriers to attending in person.

Ministers believe that granting local authorities the power to allow councillors to attend hybrid or remote meetings* would both increase the diversity of local councillors and “enhance the resilience” of local authorities in the face of local or national emergencies.

They also believe it would “modernise democratic engagement, raise standards and widen the range of candidates standing for council by removing unnecessary barriers”.

The last Conservative government repeatedly rejected pleas to scrap rules that currently prevent disabled representatives and others from taking part in council meetings remotely, despite some Conservative MPs and peers urging them to change the law.

During the early stages of the pandemic, emergency regulations allowed council meetings to be held online – or in a hybrid combination of in-person and online attendance – but they were scrapped in May 2021.

Since then, it has been illegal for councils in England to hold hybrid or virtual meetings, although the Welsh government passed laws allowing remote meetings three years ago, while Scottish local authorities have been able to do so for 20 years.

Angela Rayner, who is deputy prime minister and secretary of state for local government, has now launched an eight-week consultation on plans that would allow both “remote attendance” and “proxy voting” at local authority meetings in England.

Proxy voting would allow an elected member to give their vote to a colleague to use on their behalf if they are unable to attend a meeting, for example during maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

Rayner said in a speech to the Local Government Association last Thursday that the measures would make it possible “for people from all walks of life to have a stake in local democracy, whether they have caring responsibilities or aren’t able to make it to the town hall in person because of illness or disability”.

Ministers say they believe the new laws “will encourage a wider diversity of people willing and able to stand and actively participate in local democracy by creating improved conditions where meetings are accessible and inclusive”.

Disabled former councillor Blossom Gottlieb welcomed the government’s announcement.

She was elected as a Green councillor for East Hampshire District Council in October 2021 but did not stand for re-election in May 2023 because of the current laws preventing councillors taking part in meetings remotely.

She was not allowed to vote or speak at meetings because she could not attend in person.

She helped the Green party campaign for a change in the law.

She told Disability News Service: “This ableist law did stop me from continuing as a councillor, which was exceptionally disappointing.

“I am utterly delighted change has finally been made, and am proud of the part I played.

“It will benefit so many people, not only increasing inclusivity in local politics by making it more accessible to the disabled population, but also to anyone who has caring responsibilities, such as those looking after their parents or children, or anyone experiencing temporary mobility issues.

“I had almost lost hope for my political career, but this news might just reignite it, who knows.”

Another former disabled councillor, Nico Reznick, also welcomed the government announcement, but only if it was a first step towards “meaningful” inclusion in society for disabled people and Labour did not use it as “a smokescreen to try and cover a larger issue”.

She became disabled after contracting Covid early in the pandemic while working in a care home, and was left clinically extremely vulnerable.

Wanting to continue to serve her local community, she became a member of her town council but was faced with “token” efforts to ensure access and inclusion, with meetings “cramped, poorly ventilated affairs, with no requirements for attendees to stay away if ill”.

Although she was allowed to attend meetings virtually, she was not allowed to table motions or vote unless she was physically present, even if she sat in an empty office in the same building.

She was told that the ban on remote attendance applied nationally, while her local Conservative MP refused to lobby on her behalf.

She eventually stopped taking part in council meetings as the experience was “just too demoralising”, and a waste of her time and limited energy.

She said the discrimination, apathy and lack of compassion she faced added to her sense of “exclusion, isolation and mounting depression”, when all she had wanted was “a way to serve my community within my limitations”.

Although she welcomed the announcement, she said: “The government needs to do far, far more to include disabled people in the conversations that end up deciding so much about our lives.

“The pandemic (still ongoing, if ignored) is creating more disabled people every day, and the last few years have seen us increasingly vilified in the media as burdensome scroungers and fakers.”

She pointed particularly to concerns around messaging on social security and the potential legalisation of assisted suicide.

Reznick said inclusion for disabled people had to be improved “at all levels of local and national government”.

She said: “We want and deserve a voice.

“Hopefully, this move will be the first step of many that will help disabled individuals take their rightful place in society.”

Another to welcome the announcement was Mike Jewkes, Labour’s disability officer for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, who said the current rules were one of the key reasons he did not seek to stand in the last county council elections.

He told DNS: “I felt I couldn’t stand in the county elections as public transport accessibility in rural areas is abysmal and for me it would be a trip of two or three trains or four buses with a mobility scooter to attend.

“I feel that [if hybrid meetings are allowed] not only will this assist in better representation from the disabled community but also will assist parents to be more involved, along with carers and anyone who leads a busy life but wants to add something to their community.”

*Remote meetings are those where everyone attends online; with hybrid meetings, some attend online and others attend in person

Picture: Angela Rayner (left) and Blossom Gottlieb. Picture of Angela Rayner ©House of Commons

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