A full council meeting, alongside planning and budget scrutiny committee meetings have been cancelled, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

Waltham Forest Council has cancelled nearly all public meetings until the May local elections.

A full council meeting slated for Thursday (23rd April), alongside meetings of the stop-and-search policing group and the council’s audit committee due next week, will not go ahead.

Planning committee and budget scrutiny committee meetings pencilled in for last week were also cancelled, according to the council’s public calendar.

Committees, comprising elected councillors, meet around once a month to scrutinise council proposals and make decisions on certain planning applications. Residents can attend and make an address at the start.

The next meeting scheduled to take place is the annual council meeting, where a new mayor will be appointed, on 21st May – two weeks after the local elections.

A cabinet meeting on the 12th has also been cancelled.

A council spokesperson said: “In March, the council reviewed upcoming meetings due to take place during the pre-election period.

“Meetings that had insufficient items of business, or where remaining items could reasonably be deferred until the next meeting after the election, were cancelled by the Proper Officer. The relevant committee chairs and group whips were consulted about the cancellations.

“A number of meetings where items of business could be time sensitive, or where statutory reports are required, will take place as originally scheduled.”

They included a licensing hearing last week, and meetings of the housing and inclusive economy scrutiny committee and the cross-borough inner north east London joint health and overview scrutiny committee today (22nd April).

Nearly 300 candidates have been put forward for next month’s local election, with eight parties standing across the borough.

The election is slated to take place on 7th May.

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