COUNCILLORS in Blaenau Gwent who have yearned for the return of face to face meetings will see their wish come true, very soon.

At an wholly online meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s newly formed Children, Young People and Families scrutiny committee on Tuesday, June 3, the question of being able to meet in person was brought up once again.

At the start of annual each cycle of council meetings councillors are asked to indicate their preference for a time and day for meetings to he held on

Cllr Lee Parsons (Independent) said: “Are we looking at holding these meetings face to face in the GO (General Office).

“Is that something we’re looking at now?”

Committee chairman Cllr Wayne Hodgins (Independent) said: “I’m quite happy to facilitate face to face meetings in the GO subject to us checking out the technology and facilities we have.”

But he reminded the committee he cannot “mandate” that all councillors have to attend in person – as legally they have the option of attending meetings online.

Performance and democratic service manager, Gemma Wasley said: “Moving forward we will be offering hybrid meetings.”

Cllr Parsons welcomed the announcement and said: “I certainly think there is an appetite amongst us to get back to working as we used to many years ago.”

In 2021, a new law was brought in by the Welsh Government which require local authorities to ensure their meetings are capable of being held remotely.

It cemented emergency legislation that was brought in during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 which allowed meetings that had ground to a halt, to take place online.

While all other local authorities in Wales have moved to hybrid meetings Blaenau Gwent have been mostly holding all council meetings online.