Councillors texting, reading and sleeping in meetings

[RosyRat 10]

Am I the only one that thinks it is shocking that someone can complain about a debate lasting 10 hours when talking about something that happens once a year and affects hundreds of thousands of people?

 

Not only that, but it seems like sitting through 4 hours for a mere £11000 is a bit too much to ask. Can I suggest that those people standing for office take into account that they might have to sit and listen, and perhaps even express an opinion, if they are to properly do their job.

 

The only real solution to the mess that large cities have got themselves into is to ban political parties from having candidates in local election. The same people can still stand, but they are all independent, and all have to stand on their merits.

Councillors don't earn £11,000 per year for sitting through Full Council. Being a councillor is a full-time job which takes over your life. Quite frankly, I would rather have been out in the community, talking with my constituents, working with the police, attending TARA meetings, being at my surgery and all the other endless things a councillor is elected to do, than sitting in the Town Hall Chamber, listening to speeches which won't have any bearing whatsoever on the outcome.

The Budget debate does not, as you put it "affect hundreds of thousands of people". The Budget does. This, as I have tried to explain a number of times, is not decided in Full Council. Full Council is the opportunity for the public to hear debate and for the Opposition to make itself heard by the public. If members of the public actually do ever turn up.

If Full Council were an opportunity to "sit and listen" to the people of Sheffield, I would welcome it. It isn't. There are a few petitioners, but those petitions would come to the councillors anyway, without people choosing to address the Chamber.

Local Government does not take place in the Council Chamber. It has little bearing on what happens in the city.

[KenH 10]

It needs to be one thing or another.

 

If it is a job, then they should turn up and work hard and should be sacked if they fall asleep or text.

 

If it isn't a job then get rid of the blanket "wages" and only claim for travel expenses.

 

But whatever you do, at least stop moaning about having to endure something that you persuaded the electorate you were desperate to do.

[RosyRat 10]

It needs to be one thing or another.

 

If it is a job, then they should turn up and work hard and should be sacked if they fall asleep or text.

 

If it isn't a job then get rid of the blanket "wages" and only claim for travel expenses.

 

But whatever you do, at least stop moaning about having to endure something that you persuaded the electorate you were desperate to do.

A councillor's job is not to attend Full Council. If you want to know what a councillor's job is, here's a good link from Kesteven Council :

 

http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2327&p=0

 

If you search Jonathan Harston's posts, you'll find a full breakdown of his duties and see that he was working for just over £1 an hour.

[alchresearch 214]

So, does this behaviour happen in all council meetings nationally?

[Jack_Russell 11]

This is not about how much councillors get paid.This is about councillors having the courtesy and good manners to listen to what people have to say during a council meeting.

It would seem its an issue for all parties given the report in the Star.

 

Whether they get paid or not isn't the issue..plain good manners is.

[RosyRat 10]

This is not about how much councillors get paid.This is about councillors having the courtesy and good manners to listen to what people have to say during a council meeting.

It would seem its an issue for all parties given the report in the Star.

 

Whether they get paid or not isn't the issue..plain good manners is.

Jack, you're right. However, when you've heard the same speech and the same points in meeting after meeting, it does put a strain on your powers of concentration. Debate is good and frank exchanges of views healthy. But 9 times out of 10 you know what's going to be said, by whom and how.

If Full Council were a decision-making body, attended by the people of Sheffield, like the Scrutiny, Planning and Licensing Boards, then there would be a very different attitude. These meetings are challenging and result in actions which affect local people, whereas Full Council is an exchange of rhetoric between parties and I personally never enjoyed that sort of thing.

For some, it's one of the reasons they went into politics. For others, like me, it took me away from the things I got elected to do : work in the community I represented.

But yes, courtesy and good manners are extremely important. The Whips have said that they'll bring this home to members.

[KenH 10]

A councillor's job is not to attend Full Council. If you want to know what a councillor's job is, here's a good link from Kesteven Council :

 

http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2327&p=0

 

If you search Jonathan Harston's posts, you'll find a full breakdown of his duties and see that he was working for just over £1 an hour.

 

I think most people would expect them to turn up at council meetings, and to behave properly when they do, if they are paid almost £12000 for a part time job.

[Douglas J 10]

it wasnt personal, it was a statement about councillors and them earning their keep, a fair statement!, and decisions made behind closed doors with no accountability is the reason why so many people in sheffield are upset about crazy decisions eg the refusal to allow inward investment into sheffield by major retailers, it smacks of backhanders, im not saying thats happening but some decisions made by elected people appear on the surface to be anti sheffield!!

 

Read Rosy Rat's post - which describes how the important decisions are made in all the other meetings of the council. they are (almost) all open to the public to sit through - so very far from being made behind closed doors. some people go - though not very many.

[dawny1970 10]

and i have just read on bbc news about how this council has virtually no national and international business's in sheffield and loosing 1.6 billion a year in business, how does the council square that with refusing ikea ect ect in sheffield???

 

 

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