Bosses at Lichfield District Council have been left red-faced after admitting a vote on plans to redevelop Lichfield city centre was counted incorrectly.
A debate over the future of the local authority’s masterplan took place online last night (9th June).
But despite announcing in the meeting that an overview and scrutiny committee had opted against backing the document, council chiefs now say a review of video from the meeting has shown it was actually backed by six votes to five.
Christie Tims, monitoring officer for Lichfield District Council, said “technical issues” were to blame for a show of hands not being counted correctly.
“A vote took place to show whether committee members endorsed the Lichfield city centre masterplan.
“Unfortunately, due to technical issues, the vote was announced inaccurately.
“As monitoring officer, I have reviewed the recording of the meeting, and I can confirm that six members voted in favour of endorsing the plan and five voted against it, rather than four voting in favour and five against as was announced at the meeting.
“The minutes from the meeting will reflect this true result and will need to be signed as a correct record when the committee meets again.”
Christie Tims, Lichfield District Council
Click below to see the disputed vote count taking place:
The council has moved meetings online during the coronavirus crisis.
“We are now reviewing the process of how we hold remote meeting votes, to make sure there is no confusion while remaining transparent to viewers.
“We will be updating our guidance and procedures and working with members to make sure they understand the changes.”
Christie Tims, Lichfield District Council
