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09
Oct 2021
Tories 'letting public down' over meeting attendance, says councillor
A Liberal Democrat councillor has accused Harrogate Borough Council’s Conservative ruling party of “letting the public down” by failing to find substitutes for meetings.
Cllr Chris Aldred claimed Tory members had failed to find substitutes on 32 occasions since April – something he said “really upsets me”.
He told a full council meeting on Wednesday:
Cllr Aldred also said Lib Dem members had not failed to find a substitute on a single occasion during the same period from April.
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However, council leader Richard Cooper hit back saying there were “various” reasons why members could not attend and that he could not “apologise for there being so many Conservatives on the council”.
The council is made up of 30 Tory councillors, eight Lib Dems and two Ripon Independents.
Cllr Cooper said:
Cllr Cooper also said illness was a factor that needed to be considered when it came to members missing meetings.
He said:
He also told Cllr Aldred:
The next elections will take place in March 2022 when a new North Yorkshire council is created to replace the county council and seven district councils including Harrogate.
It is likely that the number of councillors in the Harrogate district will be cut by around two-third with possibly just 20 seats up for grabs.
In total, there could be around 89 councillors covering the whole of North Yorkshire.
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