Latest news with #councilmeetings
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Reform UK councils in ‘shambles' as newly elected councillors fail to show up
Reform UK gained control of nine councils and minority control in three more in May's local elections, but opposition councillors claim the party's organisation and productivity have been a "shambles" since. Across the 12 Reform -controlled councils, 33 meetings have been cancelled or postponed in the first nine weeks since the election, and at least 21 Reform councillors have missed their first meetings. In Kent, nine out of 22 scheduled meetings have been cancelled since the election, including legally required meetings like the governance and audit committee. An opposition councillor in Kent, Rich Lehmann, said the cancellations were "shocking" and questioned Reform 's ability to lead the council, while Sam Smith, leader of the Conservatives in Nottinghamshire, called the start "shambolic." Reform UK councillors have reportedly cancelled meetings to reschedule them when more prepared, while Nottinghamshire Council's new Reform leader Mick Barton dismissed the criticisms as "political rhetoric from the opposition."
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Reform-led councils in ‘paralysis' as dozens of meetings cancelled in first weeks
Councils taken over by Reform UK have been left in a state of 'paralysis' as dozens of key meetings are cancelled and newly elected councillors fail to show up. Nigel Farage's party won huge victories in May's local council elections, gaining control of nine councils and minority control in a further three. However, opposition councillors have claimed organisation and productivity have been a 'shambles' since the election, with some claiming the Reform representatives 'do not know what they're doing'. Across the 12 Reform-controlled councils, 33 meetings have been cancelled or postponed within the first nine weeks since the election. Additionally, at least 21 Reform councillors have missed their first meetings, despite the majority of these only having had one meeting to attend in their first month. The worst-affected councils are Kent and Nottinghamshire, where Reform holds 57 and 39 seats respectively. In Kent, nine out of the 22 meetings - 40 per cent - scheduled have been cancelled since the election up to July 4. That compares to just 15 per cent in 2024. These include legally required meetings such as the governance and audit committee, a crucial part of local government structures, ensuring accountability and transparency of the council's finances. Other meetings, such as the police and crime panel, were cancelled as membership of the committee was yet to be confirmed - something opposition councillors say suggests their Reform counterparts 'are not ready or prepared' for their roles. In Nottinghamshire, four of the 10 meetings scheduled had been cancelled in the first nine weeks. These include the governance and ethics committee and the overview committee, which is responsible for scrutinising the operation of the chief executive's department. Opposition councillor in Kent, Rich Lehmann, said the cancellations were 'shocking' and made him question whether Reform was capable of leading the council. 'Reform did better than anyone expected, and clearly better than they expected as well,' he told The Independent. 'There's a general feeling among opposition councillors that a number of elected councillors are not ready or able to attend committee meetings that take place during the day. 'The fact they've not even named who is sitting on committees suggests they are having trouble filling committee places and that's why they're being cancelled. 'No one knows what's going on. There's a lot of confusion.' Kent is the home of Reform UK's first Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit, which has been set up to look at 'wasteful spending' in councils. The announcement on Sunday evening came as a surprise to many councillors, Mr Lehmann said, who claimed the move was a 'barrage of distraction' from the 'paralysis' the council is in. It is understood that Reform UK councillors have chosen to cancel meetings with the intention of rescheduling them once they are more prepared. It is also understood that as the meetings were scheduled by the previous administration, they were not scheduled to the new Reform council's timetable. In Nottinghamshire, the opposition Conservative group said the cancellations had sparked 'serious concerns about leadership, accountability, and the future of local service'. 'This is a shambolic start from Reform,' said Sam Smith, leader of the Conservatives. 'Scrapping every key meeting in their first full month in charge is not only reckless—it's dangerous. This puts public services at risk and shows just how unprepared Reform really are.' He added: 'There's no excuse for this. They should be in their offices, speaking to officers, and getting to grips with their jobs. Instead, the car park is empty, and the council is effectively leaderless. This is what happens when you elect people who had no plan and no idea what the job involved.' While local councils are independent bodies responsible for their own decisions, it is understood that the government expects them to operate within the law and to hold meetings in order to deliver for residents. Kent County Council said some meetings, such as planning committees, were scheduled on an 'if required' basis, and were cancelled because there were no applications requiring an immediate decision. A spokesperson said: 'Regarding the changes to the meeting calendar, a number of meetings were squeezed into June due to the election and induction period preventing them from being held in May as would be the case in a non-election year. Because there are no time-sensitive issues due at these June meetings, consideration is being given to deferring business to relevant July meetings to make best use of member and officer time.' The Independent contacted Nottinghamshire Council's new Reform leader Mick Barton for comment. He did not respond but told Local Democracy Reporters the comments are 'political rhetoric from the opposition'. He said: "That's absolute nonsense. We've only been here three weeks. We're still setting policies, we're having weekly cabinet meetings with officers to find out what we're going to be doing going forward."
BBC News
03-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Medway Council cabinet to take public questions for first time
Medway Council will begin offering members of the public an opportunity to question councillors during cabinet local authority will allocate 20 minutes for public questions on every cabinet agenda in a six-month pilot project to offer more interactions with residents, starting with Tuesday's the public could only ask questions at full council council can reject questions that are frivolous, defamatory, offensive, or not related to a matter for which it has responsibility, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The council administration will answer as many questions as it can within the allotted time and any left unanswered will receive a written must submit questions via the council's website at least three working days before a meeting.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Redcar and Cleveland Council meetings can move from day to evening
A council's committee meetings can shift from day to evening slots so more people can and Cleveland's Curt Pugh has gained cross-party support for his motion to move some from weekday working hours to 18:00 or later, which would make life easier for parents and members who approved, his motion was opposed by some independent councillors living in rural areas who expressed safety concerns about travel on dark, wintry Conservative, who represents the Normanby ward, said the move was a "step in the right direction" as current meeting times were a "barrier to participation". The motion won broad support from other groups with a substantial majority of councillors voting in favour of the told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the Labour-led local authority should also "seriously consider" live streaming said only the authority's monthly, full council gatherings were uploaded to YouTube, but this was not enough "online representation". "The purpose of the motion was to try and encourage more people to get involved in local democracy," he said."Whether that's enabling more working people to stand for the council, or trying to encourage more participation from the public."I'm glad this didn't become a political issue and was pleased to receive support from all corners of the chamber."It means each council committee - of which there are several - will now have to discuss what time of day they meet, bearing in mind the motion also said the council's monitoring officer and officers from democratic services should provide "any logistical or legal advice required to facilitate more inclusive scheduling". Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Baw Baw council Mayor Danny Goss suspended after 'aggressive' conduct in meetings
A regional Victorian mayor will be suspended for 21 days from Thursday after an arbiter found his behaviour in meetings more than a year ago resulted in misconduct. The arbiter was called in to investigate allegations against Baw Baw Shire Council Mayor Danny Goss and found he was "nasty and aggressive" and "abusive and threatening" during meetings in March and April last year. During a closed meeting in March 2024 the arbiter found Cr Goss told a young, female councillor to "shut up", "bottle it" and "get some experience". The arbiter's report into his behaviour and his subsequent punishment, seen by the ABC, is only being tabled at the local government level this week almost a year on from the initial complaints. In the 10 months between December 2023-September 2024 Cr Goss posted to his Facebook page regularly saying that council should stop concerning itself with issues outside of its remit and that councils were becoming too "woke". He was calling for council to stop putting motions forward in support of causes such as the Gaza conflict and re-naming places within the shire to honour notable women. Tomorrow, a report from internal arbiter Lily O'Neill will be tabled by the Baw Baw Shire Council and a formal punishment will be issued. Dr O'Neill found that in March last year during a disagreement in a closed meeting of council Cr Goss told former mayor Annemarie McCabe that voters in Drouin would "come after her with baseball bats" in relation to a policy position. Former councillor Jazmin Tauru told the arbiter that in that same meeting, Cr Goss had told her to "shut up", "bottle it" and "get some experience". She was elected at just 21 years of age but after one term chose not to stand for re-election. After that meeting she asked for all future councillor-only meetings to be attended by the chief executive officer, and mostly attended the rest of the year's council meetings via video-link rather than being there in person. Ms Tauru told the ABC she did not wish to comment on the report and was still "processing the events" that occurred during her council term. In May 2024 three councillors applied for arbitration about Danny Goss's behaviour. A week later he told his fellow councillors to "stick to the knitting". It drew ire from some community members and resonated with others. It is unclear whether he was aware of the arbitration application at that stage. However, the arbiter found his use of words did not breach councillor standards. "The application called this phrase 'misogynistic' and 'disrespectful'," Dr O'Neill said. "Having viewed the relevant section, on balance, I accept Cr Goss's evidence that this expression was a colloquialism to mean that he believed these committees to be outside the remit of council. "I find that these comments were delivered in reasonable manner." In response to one female community member calling out his turn of phrase, Cr Goss wrote a letter to the editor in the local paper, the Warragul and Drouin Gazette, naming the woman and directing her to a dictionary for a definition. "The fact that councillors want to establish a gender committee and will allocate $150,999-plus for a gender job in this year's budget is disappointing when there are so many issues in Baw Baw Shire and a massive shortage of money," he wrote. "The responsibility of local government is stick to the basics and to provide basic infrastructure and services. "It isn't to establish gender equity committees to right some perceived wrong … it isn't to waste time and effort on street names." He then spelled out causes including new footpaths, a bus shelter and drainage, which he had been campaigning for. He said his fellow councillors had been absent when he was advocating for those projects. "I was elected to do a job and those that gave me that privilege expect me to do just that — and not be distracted by this nonsense." In March this year Cr Goss apologised to the former councillors for his comments during last year's "acrimonious" debates. Dr O'Neill said he had suggested the apology when she met with him. "In looking back I regret the comments I made at that time," he said. "My view is we should own our mistakes. Cr Goss was re-elected to the Baw Baw Shire Council at last year's November elections. Following tomorrow night's council meeting he will be suspended for 21 days. Cr Goss has been contacted by the ABC for comment but has declined to comment until after the meeting.
