Cash-strapped council cuts public meetings
people bother to attend area committee meetings, adding: ‘Councillors are there first and foremost to represent constituents.
‘This decision could come back to bite us on the backside.’
Gordon Blair echoed the thoughts of others as he said: ‘If we cut the number of area committee meetings by one third, local democracy will be eroded.’
Striking a more conciliatory tone, Elaine Robertson commented: ‘I would like to see six meetings retained, but this is something we have to do.’
In place of formal meetings, the administration proposes holding a greater number of informal ‘business days’ which, without officer support, would POLITICAL opponents have slammed one of the first acts of Argyll and Bute Council.
There was no surprise at last week’s first full council meeting following the local elections on May 4 as an independent group of seven councillors aligned themselves with an eightstrong Conservative group and the six LibDems, creating a coalition majority of 21 members. Outside the administration are the Argyll First group of two, comprising Dougie Philand and Donald Kelly, independent George Freeman, non-aligned Jean Moffat and the SNP group of 11 councillors.
Faced with a pressing need to save money, councillors last week agreed to cut the number of area committee meetings from the current six to four per year. Area committees allow members of the public to speak in a formal way with local councillors representing them.
Last Thursday’s administration motion was based on the cost of officers’ time to set up and attend area committee meetings – with some councillors using the argument that very few members of the public turn up to these meetings as justification for cutting them. The proposal – which was agreed by 21 votes to 15 – incensed opposition members.
Councillor Philand said it would ‘diminish local decisionmaking’, while Councillor Kelly disagreed with the idea that few
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be un-minuted. Speaking to her motion, newly-elected council leader Aileen Morton said: ‘All the points raised today were discussed by the short life working group. But change has to happen due to budgetary requirements.’
She added: ‘I am well aware Argyll and Bute is a vast geographic area, and we need to look separately at how we deal with localism and accountability.’