Minutes:
The Chairman of the Council began the meeting with the following remarks:
“Welcome everyone to this meeting, I’m Councillor Dan Land, I am the Chairman of Tendring District Council. I will start by inviting my fellow Councillors to confirm using an instant chat facility we have that they can hear the meeting and preferably see it too. I will then ask the appropriate Committee Officer to confirm that the live stream of this meeting is active. The purpose of both of these actions is to ensure that we meet the legal requirements for remote meetings of Councils.
Following this, I will move through the agenda for the meeting. This agenda is available on line at the Council’s website following the links to ‘Council and Democracy’, ‘Committees’ and then the Full Council. A link to the live stream of the meeting is also available from there and in the next few days there will be a copy of the recording of the meeting. As this is an extraordinary meeting of the Council many of the usual items on the agenda do not appear. If the proposals in our agenda around a schedule of meetings up to the end of April next year are approved today it will mean those items automatically appear on the agendas for Council meetings going forward.
During the meeting Councillors are asked to keep their video feed on; unless they are having connection problems. Officers of the Council are respectfully asked to keep their video feed off while they are not contributing to the meeting. Everyone is asked to mute their microphone unless they are contributing. When contributing everyone is asked to say their name so that those listening in can follow who has said what. For most items I will ask a specific Councillor to move the proposals as set out in the agenda for the meeting.
If a Councillor needs to contribute, for instance to declare an interest not already declared, then they should alert me as Chairman; again using our instant chat facility. If they cannot use that facility they can interrupt me briefly and then allow me to invite them to make their point. Something like ‘Chairman, it’s Councillor XXX, I wish to make a point’ will be sufficient.
During the discussion on each item, if there are no alternative motions moved or opposition statements to the recommendations proposed I will ask if anyone is opposed to the recommendations. If there is no opposition, I will declare the recommendations approved. If there is opposition, I will ask each Councillor in turn to identify how they vote on that item so that we are clear whether there is a majority for or against the recommendations. The Minutes will only record the overall decision unless a recorded vote is requested in accordance with the normal rules.
I will seek to accommodate all Councillors who want to contribute to the discussion on each item as we move through the agenda. While the world around us changes rapidly it is noteworthy to me that all Councillors on Tendring District Council have continued to work collaboratively to deliver for the communities we serve. I’m glad to be able to say how proud I am that we have met the challenges we have faced without falling out or dividing along political lines. So colleagues if you have things to say on any of the items we have on our agenda just let me know.
So, in thanking you for your patience as I went through these arrangements for the meeting, can the Committee Officer please now confirm that the live stream of this meeting is active?”