Low attendance sparks frustration at council meeting

Richard Evans, Local democracy reporter

A complaint was made to the council chairman amidst a councillor exodus before a debate on an annual report at a meeting of the full council.

The complaint was made by Cllr Bobby Feeley to chairman Cllr Peter Scott on Thursday after many members had either left the council chamber or logged off early.

The item titled “standards committee annual report” was about to be presented and debated in the chamber, but Cllr Feeley complained most of the councillors had already left, despite the meeting still going on.

Vacated

The chamber had been vacated by many following a four-hour debate on the budget and council tax.

This had already prompted the chairman of the meeting Cllr Peter Scott to assure those who remained in the chamber and those contributing online that the meeting could continue.

He said: “We can still carry on; plus, with what’s on screen, we’ve got enough people there.”

One councillor who had remained was Cllr Hugh Irving who could be heard telling another he was ‘worn out’.

But Cllr Feeley complained about the drastic drop in attendance at the later part of the meeting.

She said: “Can I just say, Mr chair, that as one of the two members on the standards committee, last year we were in a similar situation where the chair had come and most people had left by the time she had got to speak, and so I asked if we could possibly bring the standards committee up to the beginning this year, which was agreed to my face anyway, not in writing.

“And here we are again with many of us who have left.”

Agenda

She then asked if in future years the standards report could be moved higher up the agenda so that it could be discussed before councillors left the meeting early.

Council officer Gary Williams then said he’d noted the point and that no discourtesy had been intended.

Councillors noted the contents of the standards report for the calendar year January to December 2024.