Councillors could have attendance monitored

ELECTED councillors from Wales’ third-largest local authority could soon have their attendance at council meetings “recorded and monitored” by a committee, it has been revealed

Members of Rhondda Cynon Taf council ’s democratic services committee will discuss the proposal on Wednesday, October 5, which would see the council’s standards committee begin to record details about councillors’ attend- ance at meetings. They could also begin to record whether councillors gave any apologies for their absences, and whether they stayed for the entire meeting or left before the end.

A report by Karyl May, head of democratic services at RCT council, says committee members should decide if – and when – the plans are implemented, before the matter is reported to a full council meeting for final approval.

The idea was first floated by the standards committee in July 2015, and a committee meeting held in April 2016 noted that its chairman would meet with the individual leaders of the political groups within the council – before the council’s AGM in May 2016 – to outline its intention to monitor meetings.

The report by Ms May, published before Wednes- day’s meeting, said: “Members views are sought as to whether the following data should be recorded in respect of members’ attendance at meetings, and if so, a suggested date for implementation, in order that the findings of the committee can be reported to full council.

“[These include] Members’ attendance or nonattendance, recording whether apologies were given (or not) for nonattendance by a member, and whether a member remained for the duration of the meeting or left prior to its conclusion.”

The only sanction that can be taken against a councillor who does not attend meetings is if they are absent for a period of six months. In that case, they would be automatically disqualified.