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23
Oct 2023
North Yorkshire Conservatives dismiss claims over residents’ questions ban
Conservative leaders on North Yorkshire Council have dismissed claims they are attempting to “stifle democracy” by banning residents who cannot attend their weekday daytime committee meetings from having their questions read out.
Cllr Carl Les, leader of the authority, said the move had been proposed by a cross-party group of councillors earlier this month and was designed to prevent council meetings becoming overwhelmed by questions, impeding debates and council business on the agendas.
Cllr Les was speaking after the authority’s executive pushed forward a series of changes to its constitution last week, including banning questions from residents unless they attended meetings, which are all held from Monday to Friday and during conventional working hours.
The cross-party group of councillors had considered whether the discretion of the meeting’s chair to allow questions to be read out in the questioner’s absence should be removed.
The group has proposed that unless there was an exceptional reason, such as a disability, any member of the public wishing to ask a question should attend the meeting or send a representative to do so.
Failure to do so would mean the question not being read at the meeting, however a written response from council officers would be provided.
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The group also felt that meeting chairs should be able to handle the 30-minute public question time at the start of meetings “in their absolute discretion”.
The proposals, to be put before a full meeting of the authority next month, follows criticism that reducing the number of councillors in the county from more than 319 to 90 in forming the unitary council had produced “a democratic deficit”.
The criticism follows the administration facing fierce opposition to setting a time limit on councillors’ questions to the council’s executive members at the quarterly full meetings of the authority, the only opportunity in which elected community representatives can raise issues before all their counterparts.
Liberal Democrat councillor Steve Mason said the proposals to be put before a full meeting of the authority next month were “deeply concerning”.
He said:
Independent group leader on the authority, Cllr Stuart Parsons added:
The administration, which after seeing its narrow overall majority slip away has merged with three Independent members to form a Conservatives and Independents ruling group, claimed setting a time limit was necessary to ensure the council’s business would not be impeded by endless questions.
Cllr Les said:
When asked if he was concerned many members of the public could struggle to attend the weekday meetings, Cllr Les said the objectors had raised “a valid point”.
He added:
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