Hackney councillors slammed for poor attendance at Town Hall meetings
Hackney Town Hall. Photograph: Hackney Citizen
Councillors are missing up to three-quarters of their meetings at Hackney Town Hall, according to a new report.
The campaign group, Hackney First, published the report which lists the number of meetings councillors failed to attend between 19 September last year and 12 March 2013.
Of the eighteen councillors who missed a third of the council meetings they were expected to attend, twelve were from the Labour party, three were Conservatives and two were Liberal Democrats.
Labour councillor Daniel Kemp of Victoria ward had the lowest attendance, missing all but a quarter of his meetings.
Mustafa Korel, founder of Hackney First, said: “I hope that this information we’re distributing to our neighbours inspires those on the worst list to either question whether being a councillor is right for them or to improve their attendance.”
Mr Korel, a former Green Party candidate in Hackney, attacked the Labour party for its high absence rates and “inaction”.
He said: “It’s beyond belief that this level of absence continues without Labour intervening. If we were absent from our jobs 75 per cent of the time in six months, we’d get a good talking to by our bosses.”
Hackney Labour Party said in a statement that Hackney First’s claims about low attendance were misleading and overlooked the meetings councillors attend in their wards.
It said: “Hackney Labour Group consists of dedicated hard working councillors, who tirelessly represent residents throughout the year. Singling out individual councillors in this crude way is an unfair and unjustified attack by political opponents who have no understanding of individual circumstances.”
“Out of the councillors named for low attendance, two have had recent health problems, meaning it was agreed that time off from some meetings was appropriate, one has been on maternity leave, and three others have become new parents in the last year.”
The statement also said: “Hackney First’s partisan and biased approach, which is understandable given the site is run by a former Green Party candidate, is also exemplified by focussing on Labour councillors and ignoring the fact that 66 per cent of the Lib Dem group and 60 per cent of Tories have poor attendance records, compared to 20 per cent of [the] Labour Group.”
Only three councillors – Michael Desmond, Philip Glanville and Ian Rathbone (all Labour) – have attended 100% of their meetings over the last six months.
Conservative councillor Linda Kelly said the Hackney Council website showed her attendance at 80%.
She responded to the report by saying: “Do these percentages take into account, illnesses which are not factored into the municipal diary, or urgent meetings with constituents which clash with the municipal dates that are put down a year in advance, or the amount meetings done in the community, which is not put down as a statistic.
“Mr Korel can try and score as many political points as he likes, if the day comes when he actually wins a seat in Hackney, then he will see how a councillor has to juggle his/her time between Committee meetings and the people who really matter i.e. their constituents.”
Criticising the report Ben Hayhurst, a Labour councillor who represents Hackney Central ward, said: “The figures do not take into account maternity, paternity and sick leave and so are ripe for misuse.
“Out of the 11 meetings selected, I missed four (so 64% attendance). One was 48 hours after the birth of my first child, a second was 48 hours post-general anaesthetic for an elbow operation (I had been signed off for two weeks but attended numerous Council meetings during this time), a third was to attend a childbirth class and a fourth was because of my day job.”
A spokesperson for Hackney Liberal Democrats said: “Even if the council’s own data were 100% correct (which is unlikely) there are simple mistakes. Councillor Jacobson’s absence rate is 9% not 12% although this goes up to 13% over the year – very understandable as his expected attendances were 46.
“All Liberal Democrat Councillors are in full time employment. Some committees are exceptionally long and take place during the day. Do the people of Hackney want to be represented only by the retired or the unemployed?”
Table by campaign group Hackney First of councillors' absences from Town Hall meetings
Readers should understand that we the Liberal Democrat group sit on many more committees than the Labour group and that should be put into context. On many an occasion 2 meetings clash or we are invited to residents meetings or involved in emergency casework issues.
As the Libdem Whip we have a policy of people before politics and if it involves missing a political talking shop which Full Council meetings are effectively are, to help a constituent who needs emergency assistance we do the right thing.
Here is the full Hackney Lib Dem response:
We feel that given some care and understanding, attendance records might be useful. But these frankly do not tell us anything. Why only take a six month period when its easy to look at a whole year?
Small parties, will spread the load of a councillor’s work between them. Councillor Akhoon only attends full council meetings but does double surgeries and handles a lot of casework. Even so, once you look at the full year, which is not difficult, his absence rate falls by over 10%. Councillor Akhoon was absent from three meetings (out of nine) over the year, once because he was ill, once because of Ramadan and once because attending an important government event.
Councillor Sharer, on the other hand, had 36 meetings over the year, some of which conflicted. At others, other councillors substituted. It is impossible to compare a workload like this with councillors (such as Councillor Steinberger) whose absence is given as 5% but who had half the meetings.
Even if the Council’s own data were 100% correct (which is unlikely) there are simple mistakes. Councillor Jacobson’s absence rate is 9% not 12% although this goes up to 13% over the year – very understandable as his expected attendances were 46. If hard work is to be measured by meetings attended then Councillor Jacobson works harder than any of the councillors rated at 100% attendance (40 meetings against 29,25 and 22 respectively). But all councillors do far more than attend meetings – even those who aren’t Liberal Democrats.
All Liberal Democrat Councillors are in full time employment. Some committees are exceptionally long and take place during the day. Do the people of Hackney want to be represented only by the retired or the unemployed ?
Like most statistics these tells us many things but what they appear to tell us at first glance is wrong.
Tony Harms
Hackney Lib Dem Press Officer
What is really extraordinary is that one disgruntled bod spends an hour in front of his computer, another hour to produce an infographic and two newspapers treat these figures, which are pretty meaningless by themselves, as a serious story. And he has the elected parties sniping at each other!
I have never been a councillor but I spent years sitting on Islington transport and planning committees as a business representative. It’s hard, serious work with very little policy disagreement or personality clashes. All councillors have to be open to criticism but it has to be based on real facts – not just half of the picture.
I’m intrigued, Abraham: what “emergency assistance” do local government councillors need to provide which keeps them from attending council meetings?
Councillors are, in my world, elected to represent the People at Council meetings.
How can you discharge your duty to the People if you are taking it upon yourself to make other matters a priority?
If representing constituents at Council is boring, here’s a solution – stand down.
Otherwise, do your job.