Harborough councillors hit out at lack of meetings after one is cancelled by the authority

The leader of the Harborough District Council’s opposition says he was ‘lost for words’ at its decision to cancel a recent full council meeting.

The meeting was due to be held in the Symington Building on September 26.

But due to there being ‘no business to consider’ chairman Neil Bannister called off the meeting, this paper recently revealed.

Lib Dem leader Phil Knowles slammed the decision and says it means the full council will not have held a gathering in 181 days before its next meeting in December.

Cllr Knowles said: “This is a dilution of democratic opportunity and debate at the council and a worrying decision.

''Our shadow finance spokesman Cllr Mark Graves was in the midst of some detailed analysis of the council’s finances which involved a need to cross check agenda from several meetings and it was at this point he identified this shocking gap in meetings.

''This is simply wrong. Members have needs to ask questions and need opportunities to probe. There are so many pressures that the September meeting could and should have been used to bring some of these developing reports to the table. Closing opportunities almost at the drop of a hat beggars belief.”

It comes after fellow councillor Martin Sarfas also hit out at the decision to cancel the meeting and raised concerns about the number of meetings held each year – with the authority electing to hold four instead of eight.

He said: “It needed to go ahead because counsellors had major concerns for their wards and questions which needed to be answered, such as the closure of Lloyds Bank in Lutterworth in October.”

Cllr Knowles also believes more meetings should be held.

He said: “The controlling group has already slashed the number of scheduled full council meetings to four per year. This brings with it the added issue that such a cut restricts members chances to put forward Notice of Motions to ask urgent and formal questions. This again in my opinion undermines the democratic opportunity.”

But district council leader Cllr Phil King says the authority is looking to increase the number of meetings.

He told The Mail: “While the reduction in the number of meetings was agreed at annual council last year, we are looking to review the council rota of meetings, as part of our governance improvement programme, and will bring forward a report to the Constitution Review Group when appropriate. It is also worth noting that the majority of business is dealt with through cabinet, as the executive body, which meets on a monthly basis.

“Councillors are able to contact the council with questions or raise questions at appropriate meetings.

“Due to the unique circumstances, following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, the cabinet meeting was cancelled in line with protocol. This meant there were no cabinet recommendations to take forward, so it was agreed that a council meeting would not be required. By cancelling the meeting, it also avoided unnecessary costs.”