THE chair of a council committee has called on party leaders to ensure members are attending meetings.
Cllr Paul Taylor made his request after the “regular absence” of three members of the audit committee at Lichfield District Council.
Records show that Labour’s Dave Robertson – who has now resigned from the council – and Conservative duo Cllr Wai Lee-Ho and Nikki Hawkins have attended none of the four meetings held between July 2024 and 6th February.
In his report to a meeting of the audit committee next week, Cllr Taylor said more needed to be done to address attendance.
“The committee has maintained consistent attendance from five core members this year.
“However, the regular absence of three members has occasionally left us vulnerable to inquoracy and risks diminishing the effectiveness of our oversight function.
“I want to call on group leaders to review their members on the committee and to ask whether members are likely to be able to attend regularly.”
Cllr Taylor’s report will be discussed at the next audit committee meeting on Wednesday (23rd April).
Back in the day, councillors pay/allowance was linked with attendance. You attend less meetings, you get less money. This was done away with by the consent of both parties.
I got chatting to a Labour councillor last year, and made the point that pay/allowance should be linked to performance. Her point was “there was no point because then all you get is councillors turning up the meetings and not saying anything”.