It's a question of timing: No easy answers as Calderdale councillors discuss the 'right time' to hold meetings

Calderdale Council’s decision-making meetings – including full council, Cabinet, planning and licensing – have met back in person in line with Government legislation for more than a year.

But scrutiny board and some other panel meetings – which went online along with others because of the Covid-19 pandemic – have remained conducted via Zoom, being publicly screened and available to re-watch on the council’s YouTube channel.

Recently councillors were asked to consider the timing and format of scrutiny board meetings, including face-to-face being the default position and the possibility of moving them to daytime “office hours”.

These usually start at 6pm but the council’s Chief Executive, Robin Tuddenham, said there were less than ten councils in the country, including Calderdale, that held scrutiny panel meetings in the evening.

Holding meetings during the day would encourage people with families to be councillors and also help with staff retention – evening meetings had been an issue in losing two staff members in the last 18 months.

Although it was expected of senior officers, evening work should not be an “add on” for other members of staff, he said.

However, some Governance and Business Committee members said it was meetings being held in the evenings which allowed them to be councillors.

Coun Mike Barnes (Lab, Skircoat) said moving the meetings to daytime would affect his decision whether to stand and Coun Howard Blagbrough (Con, Brighouse) said such a change would exclude a cadre of people from standing.

But the board also heard evening meetings could put off people who had family commitments.

Coun Barnes said there were no easy answers.

Coun Blagbrough and Coun Roisin Cavanagh (Lab, Luddenden Foot) spoke of hybrid meetings, which have been trialled by the council and allow some participants to join in the meeting remotely by using screens at otherwise in-person gatherings.

Coun James Baker (Lib Dem, Warley) said including travel time a daytime meeting could effectively wipe out a day and although employees were supposed to be allowed time off for such work many would not be understanding.

But some meetings – for example police and crime panel meetings, and some “scrutiny in a day” sessions were held in daytime, he said.

Members agreed to keep meetings starting at 6pm with an emphasis on enhancing hybrid meetings to allow for in-person and remote participation.

Officers should also produce a further report on options, including moving meetings to daytime, before the 2026 Elections, when all members are due to stand for re-election following completion of boundary change proposals.

Reconsideration then would allow those thinking of standing to consider the situation in light of what is decided.