This week, residents of Grantham were finally able to watch a South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) Full Council meeting without having to drive to Grantham.

Despite two years of promises by senior Conservatives, there is no technology in the newly-refurbished Council chambers to allow broadcast but the current exceptional circumstances have required the council to adopt virtual meetings which has offered the spin-off benefit of being available online.

Nevertheless, Thursday's meeting has been criticised by at least one Deepings' councillor as little more than a spoof.

Cllr Ashley Baxter (Ind), who represents Market and West Deeping Ward commented after the meeting: "While everyone appreciates the difficult challenges and tremendous efforts of council staff over recent weeks, the council appears to be 'behind the curve' in terms of restoring democratic systems.

"The arrangements for yesterday's meeting were chaotic with the Leader and the Chief Executive making up the rules as they went along and to suit themselves".

Cllr Baxter had submitted a motion suggesting the Council commission a report into how the council can learn from the coronavirus episode to make long-term environmental and financial savings.

However, his proposal was rejected by the Chief Executive at the eleventh hour and without consultation.

"It wasn't just the ban on motions which annoyed me" continued Cllr Baxter "but the lack of the usual opportunity for members of the public and even Councillors to ask questions".

During the meeting, the Council Leader Cllr Kelham Cooke (Con) stated: "I am really pleased that we have been able to hold this council meeting... For this first virtual meeting obviously we haven't had public or members' questions or motions. I know this has disappointed some people but I think we needed to strike the balance to ensure we had a well-run efficient lawful virtual meeting."

The meeting began with three separate minute's of silence in order to reflect on: firstly the victims of Coronavirus; secondly the sacrifices made during the second world war; and thirdly the recent passing of two former District Councillors.

This was followed by a statement from Council Leader about the impact of Covid19 on South Kesteven.

The meeting 'proper' then began with a roll call of the members attending via Skype from around the District (and possibly beyond).

Fifty-five of the 56 councillors were in attendance, which is believed to exceed any similar meeting that has taken place in the council chamber.

The roll call became of a feature of the meeting as it was required each and every time the councillors voted on proposals amendments and even ratifying the minutes.

The first item for discussion was whether or not to extend the attendance' rule which requires members to attend at least one council meeting in any six month period.

Several opposition members pointed out that, since all but one of the Councillors were in attendance at that meeting, the proposal was effectively redundant. Nevertheless the proposal was passed.

The second item concerned amendments to the constitution regarding the protocol for taking decisions during emergency situations.

After discussion with the Leader of the Independent Group, Cllr Paul Wood, an amendment had been proposed by the Conservatives requiring opposition leaders to be notified of actions taken during any emergency.

Some Independent and Labour members were unhappy with the vocabulary and requested that opposition leaders should be 'consulted' rather than 'notified'. This request was rejected by the Council.

The remainder of the meeting provided an opportunity for Cllr Cooke to notify council of the decisions that had been taken, without consultation, since the previous council meeting of May 1st.

These were all in response to the Covid pandemic and included: increased remuneration for some frontline staff including refuse collectors; changes to taxi-licensing arrangements; and suspension of pay and display charges at council car parks.

The updates provided an opportunity for councillors of all parties to applaud the hard work of the Council Leader, the Chief Executive and most importantly the staff since the outbreak of the pandemic.

It also provided an opportunity for some constructive criticism notably regarding the sluggish recovery of the council's committee system which provides the only formal opportunity for overview and scrutiny of the council's activities and plans.

Cllr Baxter pointed out that even though a couple of meetings have taken place, the council's on-line calendar of meetings remains empty beyond the end of this month.

Cllr Cooke responded by saying that a draft schedule of meetings had been circulated to Councillors (the day before) and that, once ratified, these would be uploaded to the council website.

The next SKDC Full Council meeting is scheduled for 16th July. It is anticipated that members of the public will be able to register to ask questions at that meeting.

• Nub News welcomes contributions from other councillors, political figures and others.