A COUNCILLOR has called for changes after an elected representative was unable to take up a role as a trustee of a local charitable trust.
Cllr Jacob Marshall, deputy leader of Lichfield City Council, made his comments after Lichfield Municipal Charities told fellow Labour Cllr Matthew Field they could not move their sessions to times outside of working hours.
It means that he has now had to be replaced as a trustee of the organisation by a member of the council who is retired.
Cllr Marshall said:
“Cllr Field, who has served on the city council for six years, is one of many working age members elected in last year’s local elections.
“The council agreed to appoint him as its representative as Municipal Charities trustee, but in a trustee meeting he raised the fact that the 4pm meetings were causing issues for both his working schedule and his family life and requested a reasonable adjustment of moving them to 6pm.
“This was unfortunately rejected by the trustees and thus the city council has to now appoint a retiree to take his place.”
Lichfield Municipal Charities was founded in 1654 and operates 12 almshouses in Stowe Street.
Cllr Marshall said it was important that steps were taken by organisations to allow a broad range of people to engage with them.
“The Labour group at the city council has an unprecedented number of working age people on it – people who balance their unpaid public service with their work and young families.
“Their perspective helps round out the years of life experience that the retired members bring to the council.
“It is vital that trustees of incredible, historic organisations like the Lichfield Municipal Charities accommodate reasonable requests to move their meetings by a couple of hours to facilitate younger people’s participation in public life.”
A spokesperson for Lichfield Municipal Charities said the current arrangements had been best for “the vast majority” of committee members.
“The trustees have held their quarterly meetings at 4pm for more than half a century and no trustee, whether working or not, has ever indicated that the meeting time prevented their attendance.
“The meeting dates are fixed a year in advance to enable trustees to make arrangements to attend and while it was suggested last November that the meeting time be changed, 4pm was retained as that was the time that was most convenient to the vast majority of trustees, all of whom are volunteers”