Rotherham: Covid-compliant meetings have cost £29,000

On Monday, Rotherham's council leader said he believed in-person meetings were unnecessary with high Covid-19 rates in the borough

Holding Covid-compliant council meetings in Rotherham has cost more than £29,000 since mid-2021.

Legislation allowing meetings to be held remotely expired in May, meaning councils have had to use or hire large venues to allow for social distancing.

Since then, four full council meetings have been held at Magna and another held at Dinnington Resource Centre.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council said the cost had been met by government Covid-19 grant funding.

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Holding meetings away from the local authority's council chamber, up to and including the full council meeting on Wednesday, cost a total of £29,055.74, the Local Democracy Reporting Service found.

Earlier this week council leader Chris Read called for a return to virtual meetings amid spiralling numbers of Covid-19 cases in the borough.

According to the latest data, as analysed by the BBC, the infection rate in Rotherham per 100,000 people stood at 2,267 in the seven days to 8 January - with more than 12,000 new cases confirmed in the two weeks to 8 January.

Wednesday's full council meeting saw dozens of councillors plus staff, public and press attend Magna in Rotherham

During Wednesday's full council meeting, Mr Read said he believed the government was expected to come to a view about virtual meetings "soon", adding: "Of course, the concern about that is that we are here now and cases are higher than they've ever been.

"We all hope that they would be much lower in another six weeks time, perhaps it won't be an issue for us."

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said councils should follow Covid-19 guidance and the government would work closely with them.

A spokesperson said the department would be responding "shortly" to evidence submitted regarding a longer-term decision on whether to allow councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis.