Annual council meeting

East Cambridgeshire District Council held its annual council meeting tonight, to – among other things – elect its Chairman (Cllr Tony Cornell from Soham) and its committees.

There are only three main committees now (apart from Planning and Licensing), and I’ve been appointed to two of them – Corporate Governance and Finance, and Regulatory and Support Services.

Of specific relevance to Sutton:

  1. The Sutton by-election result was reported, and I was welcomed to the council.
  2. In a report on its corporate priorities, the council claimed that installation of superfast broadband in East Cambridgeshire was complete and would be live by next month.  I reminded the council that St Andrew’s Close and Stirling Way were still waiting for a date for Cabinet 9.  (Not, in fact, that superfast broadband is the direct responsibility of the district council anyway – it’s a county council project with a private sector contractor).
  3. Sutton’s other councillor Philip Read was given leave of absence by the council while he undergoes medical treatment.  Normally if a councillor goes six months without attending a meeting he or she is disqualified, but the council can extend this if the absence is due to some good reason and approved by the council.  Cllr Read’s absence has been extended to the end of 2014, with the option to renew this at the council meeting on 27 November.  I’m sure we all wish Cllr Read well for his medical treatment and a swift return to robust health.

I did point out that Sutton currently has two district councillors, so will not be left without representation while Cllr Read is absent.  However, the council has asked the local government boundary commission to consider cutting the number of councillors on East Cambs council, and moving to single-councillor wards for rural areas like Sutton.  If a similar leave of absence were to be granted in that situation, Sutton could be left completely unrepresented for almost a year.  It’s just one of several reasons why I disagree with the council administration’s view on this.

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