Agenda and minutes

Media

Items
No. Item

17.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

To receive any apologies for absence.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

18.

Declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

19.

Attendance at meetings of an authority by a Member NON KEY pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The  Leader of the Council  considered the report  which  set out  confirmation  from the Leader of the Liberal Democrat  Group  of  the continuing  ill health of Cllr Hinchcliffe  and advising that he would be unable to attend a Council meeting prior  to the 12th of January 2021. In line with previous Counsel advice, the report proposed to extend the requirement to attend a Council meeting, through executive  decision making,  by 2 months, to allow time for recovery and Cllr Hinchcliffe’s attendance at a Council meeting  by the 12th of March.

 

RESOLVED

 

 

1.    To note that Councillor Justin Hinchcliffe has been unable to attend Council meetings due to ill health, and the last meeting he attended was on the 13th of July 2020.

 

2.    To approve  that Councillor Hinchcliffe will continue to be a Member of this Council until the 12th of March even if he does not attend a meeting of the authority (as defined in section 85(2) Local Government Act 1972) due to ill health; and

 

3.    To note that if Cllr Hinchcliffe does not attend a meeting of the authority (as defined in section 85(2) Local Government Act 1972 by 12th of March, he will cease to be a member after that date.

 

Reasons for decision

 

The Leader is requested to approve the above recommendations to allow Councillor Hinchcliffe the opportunity to recover from a period of ill health and retain his membership on the Council.

 

If the reason for Councillor Hinchcliffe’s failure to attend meetings is not approved before the expiry of 6 months from his last attendance (i.e. by 13th July 2020), he will automatically cease to be a member of the Council, as a result of section 85(1) Local Government Act 1972.

 

The extension of 2 months is thought to be appropriate given Councillor Hinchcliffe’s ill health. This will also allow an assessment of his further support needs, and preparations to be taken forward for a bi-election, in parallel to the GLA elections, if required.

 

 

Alternative options considered

 

The Leader could do nothing. However, Councillor Hinchcliffe continues to be unable to attend meetings and, if his extension is not approved, he will automatically cease to be a member of the Council after the 12th of January 2021.