Covid: Omicron fears prompt North Norfolk council to postpone meeting

North Norfolk District Council says it will rearrange its full council meeting due to fears over the rise in Omicron cases

A district council has postponed a full meeting due to concerns over the rise in cases of the Covid Omicron variant.

North Norfolk District Council was due to meet on Wednesday, but the meeting was cancelled so new arrangements and a date could be made for the new year.

The council said meetings would go ahead as they only required a small number of people to gather.

Council chief executive Steve Blatch said the full meeting would not be held "for the safety of staff and members".

"A number of our members are older, have underlying health conditions or caring responsibilities and were concerned about coming into the building and sitting in a council chamber," he said.

Items on the agenda were not "time constrained" so it was agreed the meeting would be reorganised.

Mr Blatch said 50 people were due to attend the full council meeting and were not able to socially distance due to the size of the room.

Local authorities were permitted to hold meetings online from April 2020, when emergency regulations came into force.

However, these regulations expired in May.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it would work with local authorities to help them lower risks and concerns.

"We recognise there will be concerns about the risks of holding face-to-face meetings," they said.

"It is for councils to apply the Covid-19 guidance and ensure meetings take place safely.

"We have considered the responses to the call for evidence... to gather views and inform a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis and we will be responding shortly."