Attendance 'abysmal' at 'important and historic' Bucks unitary council meeting

The last meeting of the Shadow Authority for the new Buckinghamshire Council took place yesterday to give final approval to the structure, strategy and budget of the imminent unitary council – but less than half of its members attended.
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Launching the three-hour long meeting at 4pm at The Gateway in Aylesbury, Chairman Councillor Richard Scott said: "This is an important and historic meeting for local Government in Buckinghamshire. We will agree the constitution, the corporate plan, key financial strategies for the medium term financial plan, and members' allowances for the new Buckinghamshire Council."

For a meeting of such magnitude regarding the future of residents of Buckinghamshire, one might of imagined a near full house, but in the final shake-up only 95 of the 202 Shadow Authority members were present.

Further signalling an ominous start for what Shadow Executive leader Martin Tett had optimistically described in his opening comments as "an entirely new council for a new generation of councillors," when it came to voting for the new budget, including approving council tax rises, four more people had left the building, meaning only 45% of the Shadow Authority was present to vote on the new council's financial plans – and 22% of those who did vote failed to approve it, with 13 voting against and 7 abstaining.

Empty chairs at important local council meetingEmpty chairs at important local council meeting
Empty chairs at important local council meeting

Councillor Des Bray from the Chiltern District summarised the situation, saying: "If you look at the attendance here this afternoon, it's abysmal,” adding, “we need later meetings where people who still work have the chance to get here and be councillors. Half the seats are empty."

Shadow Executive leader Martin Tett responded by pointing out that over 60% of meetings for the new council will be in the evening and that the reason this one had to start earlier was because of the high number of potential attendees and the long agenda. The meeting yesterday ended at approximately 7:10pm.

Last week we reported that an independent review panel for the setup of the new council had recommended a 'claw back' scheme of councillor allowances for poor attendance. It's not yet clear whether this initiative will be adopted.