Claim non-hybrid council meetings in Dudley are 'discriminatory against women' dismissed as 'nonsense'

But Leader of the Council Patrick Harley called the claim “absolute nonsense”.

The issue put forward by Councillor Chris Barnett sought to push the council to hold meetings both online and face-to-face. Currently, residents wishing to listen in on Dudley Council meetings must attend in person.

In a passionate debate Councillor Barnett labelled the council’s decision to dismiss hybrid meetings “discriminatory” against those who cannot attend and particularly women who may have children to look after.

He said: “Not providing access over the internet using teams or Zoom or whatever facility we might use could quite reasonably be described as discriminatory.

“We’re discriminating against people who could otherwise attend but are not able to because they have childcare issues or they have caring issues for adults.

“I feel specifically that it would be more discriminatory to women in particular, who traditionally take on more of these care roles. I really feel that we should think again very strongly about having hybrid meetings.”

The call was echoed by various councillors who agreed it was a “missed opportunity to engage with the general public.” Councillor Keiran Casey said: “Obviously that opens up a lot of opportunity for residents to get involved who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to get to meetings physically and it brings the meetings really into the 21st century.

“The recent report from the Local Government Association actually shows that during the pandemic and in general, hybrid meetings do actually open up opportunity and they really did increase participation from local residents.”

The council has argued that in the previous usage of hybrid meetings, particularly during Covid there was a lack of participation. In reply Councillor Harley said the issue needs to be visited again but took a swipe at Councillor Barnett for his argument.

Councillor Harley said: “The issue is not closed, and the council will continue to consult and try to find ways to engage with more members of the public. The last time we did it clearly didn’t work.

“There was a lack of people getting engaged at all, but I think it does need to be visited again to see whether we can encourage more people to come forward. But in answer to Councillor Barnett, if you want to argue for hybrid meetings then use a better reason than that.

“The reason he gave was absolute nonsense.”