Torbay Council meetings to be live streamed in new trial

The council agreed to the trial in a cabinet meeting

Residents in Torbay will be able to watch council meetings online in a bid to encourage public participation, the local authority has said.

Torbay Council agreed to trial the idea of live streaming the meetings, which will come into force in May.

It will also allow the public to take part remotely or in person in the meetings.

The plans were decided at a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday.

'Embracing technology'

Councils across the country used online streaming throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the council stopped streaming decision-making meetings in June 2021.

The council has not publicly revealed how much the trial will cost but it is known to be spending more than £50,000, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Councillor Christine Carter, cabinet member for corporate and community services, said: "The pandemic showed us all different ways of working, particularly in terms of embracing technology, so we look forward to seeing how this trial works.

"We'll evaluate it and come up with a long-term solution for how meetings could run in the future."