COUNCIL meetings in Glasgow have been suspended with the chief executive and senior officers taking over in an emergency decision-making process.

The move has been agreed to reduce the need for face to face meetings while the city deals with the coronavirus outbreak.

Councillors have been told not to be in the City Chambers unless they really need to and only the City Administration Committee will meet with a reduced membership.

Annemarie O’Donnell and other executives will be authorised to deal with a range of matters like applications for licences, permissions and grants, in consultation with the appropriate City Convener or Committee Convener.

Any actions at odds with council policy will go to the City administration Committee

The decision, made at an emergency meeting, has been taken to free up staff resources so senior officers can focus on Glasgow’s response to the pandemic.

Council leader Susan Aitken said: “This is not about elected members being treated differently in any way.

“It is about us getting out the way and letting our officer colleagues focus on the operational response.”

The CAC will be reduced to just six members, the leader of the council, the depute leader of the council, the leader of the majority opposition (Labour), the depute leader of the majority opposition, the leader of the Conservative Group and the leader of the Green Group.

Meetings could be held by telephone or video conference instead of face-to-face if required.

She said councillors should not physically be in the building if they don’t need to be, adding: “At this point, the operational response to the crisis facing the city is the key thing.”

Staff have been told unless they have symptoms to await instructions on working from home.

They have been told: “Our aim is to take decisions on who can and can’t work from home by close of play today or tomorrow at the latest.

 “Please do not take a decision to work from home on your own without discussing with your manager.”

Meanwhile, the council is ready to shut some buildings to re-direct resources to keep essential services, like schools and care provision, running.

Ms O’Donnell, said: “We are actively considering shutting some buildings in order to redirect staff and resources to support our three priorities

“I will make a general announcement about this when we take that decision and you will receive local communication if you are affected.”

The Chief Executive also issued a rallying call to council staff on the importance of the council’s role in the response to coronavirus.

She said: “We cannot afford to be paralysed by fear. This council delivers services which vulnerable people rely on. Society’s recovery from this is utterly dependent on us doing our jobs and continuing to support people."