Since mid-March the country has been on lockdown, businesses closed, people furloughed, high streets boarded up and restrictions in place like no one has ever seen before.

But some activity, like the wheels of the state, has had to find a way to keep turning,, even if the Covid-19 pandemic has nearly ground the country to a complete stand-still.

In true British fashion and ingenuity this has led all authorities, from the House of Commons down to the grassroots, to turn to virtual meetings and many, including Barrow Borough Council chief executive Sam Plum and Lake District chief Richard Leafe, feel this is a silver lining to the current crisis which could force authorities to modernise.

Barrow has its first interactive meeting scheduled for June 3, South Lakeland had its first last Wednesday, Eden District’s inaugural online session was last Tuesday while many parish councils have also turned to virtual meetings.

Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Police are also getting in on the act while Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority had their first publicly available online meeting a fortnight ago and the Lake District’s first should also be on the 3rd June.

Mrs Plum feels having meetings webcast and able to be watched by anyone on Youtube could attract a younger audience to get involved in democracy.

She said: “Our first virtual meeting is coming up and thanks to the hard work of our staff, the current crisis has only put us a couple of weeks behind in our work and nothing has had to be really postponed or delayed.

“We have had to invest in new software to make meetings completely virtual using Zoom and it will be something completely new for all of us but hopefully it can be used to promote the council and local engagement. We’ve made sure people can still submit questions before as well.

“We had webcasting for the public when I was at Bradford council and it was something I’ve been working towards but it has sped the process up. You miss some of the non-verbal dialogue you get in councils but this change is definitely a good thing to come out of the lockdown.”

Mr Leafe believes the life-changes people have made give them a real chance to make permanent changes to more environmentally-friendly ways of working without huge opposition.

He said: “With all the technology we have now we can so many things virtually that means we don’t have to drive as much, hopefully one of the real pluses out of this will be that people won’t go back to using their cars as much as before, its nice that you can hear the birds sing so much clearer and that’s right for a national park.

“When we’ve been discussing changes or new ways of working, there is an acceptance of why we’re looking to do that. Webcasting is something that’s been discussed before but now people will be able to dial in at home and be involved while still social distancing.”

In other parts of the country, councils have had meetings streamed online for years including most areas of London and Surrey.

South Lakeland trialled webcasting a few years ago with little success, but some are wiling to give it another go. Currently as part of the Coronavirus Act 2020, virtual meetings are only allowed up to May 21 next year.

Judith Derbyshire, Lake District member and Eden councillor, said: “I think its great. I could listen to Carlisle’s meeting the other week while still doing my work at home. It means more people can watch how local democracy is being done without making a whole evening free. The Brecon Beacons national park has been online for a while so it is only right we follow suit. It is a difficult situation but at the same time it is a challenge and opportunity for more flexible ways of working.”

Suzie Pye and Matt Severn, both of South Lakeland, believe its no substitute for attending in person but being more flexible could allow more people under 50 to stand for public office.

Mr Severn added: “The private sector have worked liked this for a while so it is about time the public sector caught up. Some won’t be able to get away from work in time or afford a child minder and it can take away the travel, which makes democracy a lot more accessible and accountable as it should be.”

Tom Harvey, Conservative leader at South Lakeland, said: “I became a parish councillor in my 20s, very much at the young end of the spectrum, most are older with more time and resources to dedicate to it, hopefully it will help promote younger working people and those with families to be involved.”