COUNCIL meetings are to be held online at Dudley Council from next week.

From next week, meetings, including full council, cabinet, development control, and licensing and scrutiny committees will take place online via Microsoft Teams - as regulations introduced by the government allows local authorities to hold meetings by remote or virtual methods.

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said: "Over recent weeks a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure proper democratic oversight and scrutiny of decisions, which is absolutely necessary.

"We have been testing processes to hold virtual meetings and after successful trials these are now going to take place from next week.

"I am pleased these new arrangements are in place and we welcome residents to join us and follow our programme of meetings online.”

The first virtual meeting will be a meeting of the development control committee (planning) on May 26.

Details of meetings are available online on the committee management information system. People can follow the links from www.dudley.gov.uk to council and community and council meetings.

A link to join the online meeting will be included on the agenda for each meeting.

Agendas go live at least five working days before each meeting.