COLCHESTER Council meetings are set to continue being held online until at least May, it has been revealed.

The authority’s governance and audit committee is set to recommend all council meetings continue to be hosted online on the video conferencing app Zoom and broadcast live on Youtube.

Under the recommendations the possibility of hosting hybrid and face-to-face meetings will be explored but only once Government restrictions are relaxed.

Meetings have been hosted online since May in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

A report set to go before the council meeting on Tuesday said: “There is evidence remote meetings have helped increase public engagement with meetings and have improved the transparency of decision making.

“The figures show more people are viewing through the Youtube live stream than listened through the audio stream for the similar period last year. There have been 5,780 views of meetings on Youtube from June – September 2020.

“The comparative figure for listens on audio minutes over the same period last year was 3,517.”

Remote meetings are also better for the environment, with the 29 online meetings saving an estimated 6,280 car miles, which equates to 1,830 kg of carbon dioxide not emitted into the atmosphere.

The report adds with councillors able to login in from home, there have also been fewer missing meetings.

It says: “A number of councillors have been able to join meetings whilst on holiday or otherwise away from Colchester and in circumstances when they would have had to send apologies.”

The committee is also set to recommend the council lobbies Government so hybrid or remote meetings can remain part of the civic schedule even after coronavirus restrictions are lifted.