Councillors and office staff spared a meeting because of social distancing - but frontliners are still out there in harm's way!

THE mayor of Thurrock will stay in his post for another year after the council announced it would not hold its annual meeting because it cannot guarantee social distancing for councillors and officers.

Ironically the council has been under fire from unions and residents for sending many of its workers out into the frontline without proper protection and in breach of many distancing guidelines.

Indeed on the day the council made its announcement that it cannot facilitate a safe meeting so it is cancelling it - refuse collection workers were pictured in close proximity to each other after travelling in numbers in a refuse vehicle.

Since social distancing guidance was introduced, Thurrock Council has cancelled virtually all its meetings. A planning meeting was held in March, with councillors and officers spread around the council chamber, but the follow-up meeting, scheduled for last night (Thursday, 23 April) has been put back to May 7 when it is hoped it will be possible to have a virtual meeting.

However, even though there is a further two weeks on from that, the council has already cancelled its annual meeting and mayor-making scheduled scheduled for 27 May and appears not to have considered using IT or a bigger venue, like the Civic Hall, which has been used in the past as an alternative to the council chamber.

The council has not had a full meeting since 26 February.

A spokesman for the council said: "As soon as we are in a position to hold council meetings which are inclusive and accessible by all elected members and members of the public, information about timings will be published in the normal way."

Stanford West ward conservative Councillor Terry Piccolo took up the mayoralty in May last year.

His term, along with deputy mayor Councillor Sue Shinnick, was due to end next month but they will now get another year in office.

The annual meeting is also the time when a leader of the council is elected - often a matter for debate and controversy bu current council leader Cllr Rob Gledhill will now avoid that possibility as he too gets another year in office.

Even though planning councillors have been advised the council is planning to hold their meeting in a virtual environment, a statement from the council announcing cancellation of the annual meeting says the authority does not have technology to hold the meeting virtually and holding it in person would go against social distancing guidance.

It said: "To go ahead and hold the meeting would place councillors, staff and members of the public at risk and would be completely contrary to social distancing guidance issued by the government's public health experts.

"Technological solutions are not yet in place to hold a meeting of this size and complexity which would be fair to all members while maintaining the standards of openness and transparency for our residents that we would expect of our AGM.

"Under the circumstances we all believe, like the vast majority of local authorities in the East of England, that the fairest solution is to delay holding an AGM until May 2021."

Cllr Jane Pothecary, leader of the Labour opposition, and Cllr Luke Spillman of the Independent group, say they back the decision.