Councillor Britcliffe Called off the AGM

[garinda]

Originally Posted by cashman

probably the lure of the bait. plus the truth is hard to digest. lol

Even the oldest trout can succumb, it the worm looks tasty enough.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by garinda

...and what caught your interest here, which caused you to comment?

I had to poke cashy ith a stick

[Less]

Please People, will you not tease the X Tory, Jay is the nearest we have of a 'Thinking', Tory on site, lets get back to the Thread Starter, If it's who we all know it to be...

My God, Someone in our area was thick enough to vote him in! Let's not call the poor Soul for being duped into a position he isn't capable of, let's hang our own heads because we couldn't dupe someone better!

[Bernard Dawson]

The point about the changing of the date of the Council Meeting is that the leader of the Councillor is attempting to make it as difficult as possible for some members of the Labour Group to get there. That is some members of the Council actually have to go to work. Others have child caring responsibilities. And he knows that

Council meetings should be held at a time when it's convenient for most members to attend. And not when it suits the political machinations of the leader of the Council

[yerself]

Originally Posted by Bernard Dawson

the leader of the Councillor is attempting to make it as difficult as possible for some members of the Labour Group to get there

If the leader of the council was Labour and in the same position are you trying to tell us he wouldn't use those tactics.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by yerself

If the leader of the council was Labour and in the same position are you trying to tell us he wouldn't use those tactics.

were those tactics ever used before this guy was leader is a more relevant question. ya can't say what maybe,only what was.

[JCB]

Originally Posted by Bernard Dawson

The point about the changing of the date of the Council Meeting is that the leader of the Councillor is attempting to make it as difficult as possible for some members of the Labour Group to get there. That is some members of the Council actually have to go to work. Others have child caring responsibilities. And he knows that

Council meetings should be held at a time when it's convenient for most members to attend. And not when it suits the political machinations of the leader of the Council

The Leader of the Council seems to have a hell of a lot of power.
Shouldn't these arrangements for meetings , dates etc. be in the hands of a Council official acting as a non-political civil servant ?

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Less

Which Horse's mouth can you get to confirm the above to be true and prove it's not just rumour & speculation on your part?

The story's on the Observer website now.

Leader accused of opportunism over accident - Accrington Observer

[Bernard Dawson]

Originally Posted by yerself

If the leader of the council was Labour and in the same position are you trying to tell us he wouldn't use those tactics.

I would like to think not.What I can tell you also is that I can't recall a leader of either the Tory Party or the Labour Party doing this in the past.

Of course meetings get changed from time to time. But in my experience there's every effort made to set the time and date that's convenient to most Councillors.

I'm sure you'd appreciate, that if you ask the leader of the Council,he would deny everything I'm saying.

[Bernard Dawson]

Originally Posted by JCB

The Leader of the Council seems to have a hell of a lot of power.
Shouldn't these arrangements for meetings , dates etc. be in the hands of a Council official acting as a non-political civil servant ?

The meetings are usually set well in advance. The date of this meeting, the Council's A.G.M was set some months ago.

Meetings do get changed from time to time. And it's supposed to be done in consultation with all the political parties. The Labour Group wasn't consulted. We were told what the date of the meeting was going to be.

[accyman]

so is there no where to turn to when the leader dosnt follow rules set out and if rules are not followed can that not invalidate the vote or the proceedings ?

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Bernard Dawson

The meetings are usually set well in advance. The date of this meeting, the Council's A.G.M was set some months ago.

Meetings do get changed from time to time. And it's supposed to be done in consultation with all the political parties. The Labour Group wasn't consulted. We were told what the date of the meeting was going to be.

eh and some members defend this guy.

[Less]

Originally Posted by garinda

The story's on the Observer website now.

Leader accused of opportunism over accident - Accrington Observer

Thanks for that rindy, I could have found it for myself.

I was trying to point out to the enthusiastic newbie that posting without any form of reference is nothing more than hearsay, which at the time was all it was.

Not the best way to get a point across is it?

[claytonender]

Originally Posted by accyman

so is there no where to turn to when the leader dosnt follow rules set out and if rules are not followed can that not invalidate the vote or the proceedings ?

The Leader has put pressure on council officials to change the meeting to the date and time he wanted. The latest date that the AGM of the Council had to be held (as per the constitution of HBC, which state that the AGM must be held no later than 21 days after the election) was Thursday 27 May.

Once the meeting was called off for Tuesday 18 May, the elected members had to be given 5 clear days notice, in writing of the date of the re arranged meeting. This meant that the meeting could only be held on either Wednesday 26 May or Thursday 27 May. Meetings of the Full Council are normally held at 7pm,
Miles Parkinson, who is the Labour Group Leader informed council officials that Thursday 27 May was the day when all Labour Councillors were available. But the meeting was called for 1.30pm on Wednesday 26 May, which meant that some members would find it very difficult to attend because of work commitments etc.

If officers have acted outside the constitution the facts can be reported to the Monitoring Officer, who has a duty under Section 5A of the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act to investigate contraventions of the council's rules and codes of practice. However, no matter how blatant the contravention is, there is no guarantee that the Monitoring Officer will find that there has been any wrongdoing.

[cashman]

So in laymans,the likely outcome is ya can do sod all about it? and he probably is well aware of that?