Review of Appointments

Speech by Cllr Zoe Patrick delivered to Cabinet on Tue 23rd Jun 2009

I hope that with the review of appointments care will be taken in appointing members to committees or bodies where the members will actually attend. I have to say that on numerous occasions there are committees where Conservatives take all 3 places, and rarely do all 3 turn up. I would like to see these places politically proportioned so that other members can attend. If you look at the list of the bodies on Annex 2, it will be a shame if no other members other than the ruling group attend, indeed one may question whether or not the meetings will be quorate. I certainly remember members pointing out that had they not attended they would never have happened because no one else ever showed up and there has to be a member present.

I also feel that there should be a reporting mechanism so that those attending on behalf of the council can feedback to other members on what is happening in these areas. Equally, I think that the Council should have regular reports back from our member champions on the areas which they represent us on. This is certainly the case where we have so many member champions and I am not aware of any of these reporting back to full council.