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24
Mar
Councillor faces disciplinary action over missed meetings
A senior North Yorkshire councillor could face disciplinary action for failing to attend important meetings.
Councillor Simon Myers last attended a meeting of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s (YDNPA) finance and resources committee more than a year ago in March 2024.
Since then, the councillor, who received the authority’s basic allowance of £3,665.04 in 2023/24, has missed three meetings in May, October and December last year.
Members of the YDNPA will decide what steps to take over the non-attendance at a full authority meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, March 25).
The meeting will be asked to decide whether to take any action against Cllr Myers and whether to notify North Yorkshire Council, which appointed the councillor to the authority, about the issue.
Cllr Myers represents the Mid-Craven division on North Yorkshire Council, and is the executive member for culture, arts and housing.
He is a former chair of Craven District Council, before its abolition in 2023.
David Butterworth, chief executive of the YDNPA, said in a report to members that the standing orders required him to bring the issue to the appointing body unless “the authority is satisfied that circumstances do not warrant that course of action”.
He added:
Having contacted Mr Myers to discuss this paper, he has explained that, as a member of the executive at North Yorkshire Council who hold their meetings on Tuesday mornings, this has clashed with the finance and resources committee meetings which are also held on Tuesday mornings.
Therefore, he has faced difficulties in attending those meetings to meet his current council commitments.
Mr Butterworth added:
Mr Myers is keen to continue to carry out his role as a full member of the authority.
The finance and resources committee dates only clash on one accession in 2025 and therefore he will be able to participate in three of the scheduled four meetings in 2025.
Cllr Myers confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he had missed the meetings due to a clash with the North Yorkshire Council meetings.
He added:
It’s a difficult one. I’m a member of North Yorkshire Council’s executive committee as well as the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
There’s a problem because the executive committee meetings clash with the National Park Authority meetings.
I do spend my life going to these meetings but there’s always some at North Yorkshire Council that I can’t miss.
On the potential disciplinary action, he added:
Those are the rules. I’ve missed three meetings on the trot. I’ll have to make it work, providing they don’t sack me.
Cllr Myers said he would be attending this week’s meeting of the YDNPA, where the non-attendance will be debated.
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