County hall meetings could be cut

THE number of full Leicestershire county council meetings in a year could be reduced from six to five after councillors backed the change.

Currently, there are six Leicestershire County Council meetings at County Hall each year, one in February, March, May, June/July, September and December.

The move would see the March meeting dropped and any business usually covered at it, like the pay policy statement, added to either the February or May agenda..

Leader of the council Nick Rushton told the chamber that each meeting costs £15,000, money that will be saved if the authority crosses out the March date in the calendar.

But Liberal Democrats voted against the plan, saying it removes the opportunity for backbenchers to raise issues and means less business will be carried out in front of full council.

Leader of the opposition, Councillor Simon Galton, said: “Backbench councillors already don’t have the opportunity to ask questions of and hold the administration to account.”

Coun Rushton responded: “There was nothing on the agenda of the March meeting this year.

“The meeting today has been pretty poor, no notices of motion, not many questions, you don’t take advantage already got.”

Labour leader, Councillor Terri Eynon said: “Whilst we agree with the Liberal Democrats, this is a good enough proposal when you consider the costs involved in holding a meeting.”

A report into the change said that group leaders “noted that the role of full council has diminished as a result of the Local Government Act 2000.”

Conservative and Labour councillors voted in favour of the change, Liberal Democrats voted against it.

Because of constitution rules the motion will now stand adjourned until the next meeting of the full council which takes place in September. of what you’ve