Attendance figures for Brighton & Hove City Council meetings show that some Brighton & Hove City Councillors have poor attendance records.
Seven Green Councillors failed to attend more than 78% of their scheduled Council Meetings, with Councillor Alex Phillips only attending 62%.
Despite these poor attendance levels, published councillor allowance figures show that six of the seven Councillors were able to claim their full basic allowance of £11,463, whilst five of the seven were able to claim their special responsibility allowance in addition to their basic money.
Other Counsellors with records below 80% attendance include:
• Cllr Ben Duncan, Green Party, Queens Park, 68%
• Cllr Geoffrey Wells, Conservative, Woodingdean, 72%
• Cllr Amy Kennedy, Green Party, Preston Park, 75%
• Cllr Jayne Bennett, Conservative, Hove Park 76%
• Cllr Ian Davey, Green Party, St Peters & North Laines 76%
• Cllr Ania Kitcat, Green Party, Regency, 78%
• Cllr Carol Theobald, Conservative, Patcham, 78%
• Cllr Liz Wakefield, Green Party, Hanover & Elm, 78%
Local Liberal Democrat campaigner, Jeremy Gale, said:
“The attendance figures for some of the Green Party Councillors are deplorable. For Cllr Phillips to attend just 62% of her scheduled meetings is an insult to the people living in her ward.
“If the hard-working taxpayer was to show up for work just three days out of their scheduled five day week they would, at best, expect to face disciplinary action, if not to lose their job entirely.
“Whilst the Councillors in question have every right to claim their allowances, the figures show that the taxpayer isn’t getting value for their money, which is something that the people of Brighton and Hove would get with Liberal Democrat Councillors”.
Cllr Phillips did not respond to our request for a comment.
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