Conservative councillors said that they were having to wait weeks for answers to questions that they asked at meetings of Brighton and Hove City Council’s new cabinet.
Opposition councillors are given 15 minutes to ask questions at the monthly cabinet meetings.
The Tories said that they had submitted questions – as they had for meetings of the full council which are held once every two months – but they keep having to chase up answers.
Since the council ditched policy-making committees and switched to the cabinet system in June, Conservative leader Alistair McNair said that the 15-minute limit for “important questions” from opposition councillors had proved insufficient.
Councillor McNair said: “It’s 15 minutes for all opposition councillors to put in questions on very important matters. It’s ridiculous.
“We can submit seven or eight questions – something reasonable. We do get answers. They’re not very good answers. But why should we wait for three or four weeks? We were told it was going to speed up.”
A week after the last cabinet meeting, he was still waiting for a response.
Yet opposition councillors have very little time to come up with and submit their questions – typically less than 48 hours – with a 10am deadline on the Friday before a cabinet meeting.
Conservative deputy leader Anne Meadows said that there had been times when the responses to previous questions had been sent just days before the next cabinet meeting.
Councillor Meadows said: “They don’t expect you there. That’s the problem. We’ve been told don’t bother coming along to ask your questions. Put them in and we’ll send the answers back to you. We’re never invited to cabinet.”
Green councillors have attended cabinet meetings and received responses to the questions they asked within the 15-minute timeframe.
But Councillor Meadows said that most Greens lived in the centre of Brighton and Hove. It was an hour round trip for her to travel in from Patcham
The Labour leader of the council Bella Sankey said: “The ability for councillors to ask questions during meetings is a key part of our local democracy and we are always happy to respond to any issues raised by members.
“Where a councillor attends our cabinet meetings in person, they will receive a response on the day from the appropriate lead member.
“If a councillor does not attend in person, they will receive a written response.
“Sadly, Conservative members have declined to attend cabinet so far and we were not aware of any concerns regarding the timescales for responses despite my recent meeting with the Conservative group leader.
“But I would be happy to discuss this with the Conservative group directly if they’d like to get in touch.”
The next cabinet meeting is due to take place on Thursday 23 January.
“Councillor Meadows said: … We’re never invited to cabinet.”
You don’t need an invite. Cabinet meetings are open to the public and anyone can attend them – councillor or not.
“But Councillor Meadows said that most Greens lived in the centre of Brighton and Hove. It was an hour round trip for her to travel in from Patcham”
I’m sorry to be blunt but this is a ridiculous comment. Going to the town hall on a regular basis to attend meetings is the bread and butter for any councillor. Perhaps use some of your £14k allowance to pay for a taxi!
I find Cllr Meadows comments at times to be quite disingenuous or not very well thought out. The whole “it’s an hour away” is an incredible insult to anyone who has to commute to go to work.
This is her job. Go to work. If she doesn’t like her job, I’m sure there are plenty who would be honoured to represent their ward.
Cllr Meadows gets an allowance of over £14k a year to facilitate her council duties. Attending committee meetings is literally her one job and she’s not even doing that.
If I was a Patcham resident I’d be asking why none of the Tories were bothering to represent the ward. And also how on earth it takes Cllr Meadows an hour to drive from Patcham to Hove Town Hall.
She drives conservatively.
Do any of the Conservative Councillors actually use their office within Hove Town Hall? Surely, it would make sense to work in the Town Hall, rather than working from home for a couple of hours and then pop over to the Council Chamber to ask your question ? Why have none of the Conservative Councillors ever attended a Cabinet Meeting and asked a question? If you get an answer straight away by actually going to the meeting or have to wait a few weeks for the answer to arrive by email, then surely an ambitious Councillor would attend in person. It seems daft to complain that you are having to wait for weeks for an answer, when you could get the answer straight away, simply by jumping on a bus and going to the Town Hall. Councillors are expected that their role means travelling around the city to some extent. As being a Councillor isn’t just about working within their ward but it’s about city wide issues/ambitions too. Get on a bus Cllr Meadows. The number 5 goes direct to the Town Hall from Patcham.
Sounds as though the Tories are working from home, something they don’t like council staff doing!
Sounds like you know more about being a councillor than Meadows.
Whilst I agree with many of the comments regarding the Tory complaint I do think it contains some merit. It is plainly obvious that time frames are crucial when framing questions and seeking answers. Labour have chosen to implement a system that they claim is more efficient and yet from the complaint it appears not to be. The electors of wards that voted in Councillors of other Parties are entitled to have their representatives dealt with in the same manner as Labour Councillors, and all electors concerns should be given a fair hearing. If evidence surfaces that this is not the case then Labour are basically saying that they are only interested in Democracy when it suits them and that is a dangerous path for our elected representatives to be treading.
Councillor Meadows has NO problem submitting questions to cabinet
8 to the December meeting
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/documents/s204110/Member%20Questions%2005.12.24.pdf
6 to the November Meeting
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/documents/s203785/Member%20Questions%2014.11.24.pdf
And 4 for the October meeting
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/documents/s203222/Member%20Questions%2017.10.24.pdf
And 4 in September
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/documents/s202771/Member%20Questions%2026.09.24.pdf
Trevor, as Chris has demonstrated, arguing emotively is a weak fallacy, especially in this day and age of digital technology when it can be quite easily proven illogical.