Anger over Tory no-show
South Lanarkshire’s Conservative group are under fire after none of their councillors turned up for a licensing committee meeting.
Not one of the nine Tories who can sit on the committee attended the meeting on Tuesday, December 3.
Political opponents have claimed the Conservatives were “failing” constituents and that they weren’t taking “constituents’ interests seriously” after it emerged just five weeks previous, the group didn’t attend the licensing meeting on October 29 either.
Councillor David Shearer (Clydesdale West), chair of the committee, said they had “other business” to deal with and couldn’t attend.
It is understood that some councillors, or a family member, were sick on the day of the meeting and none of the substitute members were able to take their place at short notice.
A spokesperson for the Conservative group confirmed they expected to be one or two members short but had expected someone would represent them.
The group is looking to address this going forward.
Conservative group leader Cllr Alex Allison said: “It was an unfortunate amalgamation of events that caused us to be unrepresented.
“We had a number of councillors who were off at that time due to health issues (mostly colds and flu) and the substitutes that we had listed, such as myself, were already committed elsewhere at the time of the meeting.
“It is important that we do attend meetings to represent our constituents and it was disappointing that events conspired to prevent that happening on this occasion.”
Of the 13 Conservative councillors in South Lanarkshire, five are full members of the committee, with a further four substitute members.
Cllr Poppy Corbett (Clydesdale West) could not attend the meeting for personal reasons while substitute members Cllr Jared Wark (Rutherglen Central and North) and group leader Cllr Alex Allison (Clydesdale East) were unable to attend at short notice.
Cllrs Martin Grant Hose (Hamilton North and East), Richard Lockhart (Clydesdale North), Kenny Mccreary (Bothwell and Uddingston) and Richard Nelson (Larkhall) are the other full members while Cllrs Ann Le Blond (Cambuslang West) and Lynne Nailon (Hamilton South) are also substitutes. All councillors were contacted for comment.
A substitute member can attend a committee if a full member is unable to attend for any reason.
Cllr Mark Mcgeever (Hamilton West and Earnock), deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group, couldn’t understand why no Conservative members had turned up.
He said: “I’m reluctant to criticise individuals without knowing if there were family or health issues that meant they couldn’t attend.
“That said, people are understandably curious why all five of their group’s committee members and two substitutes were absent from both licensing meetings.
“This committee deals with important cases. They often have serious consequences for the lives of applicants for taxi and other licenses, as well as issues around public safety.
“It is non-political and the members consider all cases on the evidence, so it’s important councillors of all parties take part.
“This helps ensure the public can have confidence in our decisions.
“We certainly take the responsibility very seriously and I hope all others do too.”
An SNP spokesperson added: “Like in government, the Tories don’t take representing their constituents interests seriously at South Lanarkshire Council.
“They have a duty to turn up and, unsurprisingly, are failing.
“If you want hard-working representatives, the only way to secure that is to vote SNP.”
Leader of the Labour group, Cllr Joe Fagan (East Kilbride Central North) said: “It is understandable that from time to time councillors will be unable to attend a committee meeting but this does seem excessive and the council does have a system of substituting for just these eventualities.”