Decision details

RESOLVED: That Council approves an extension of the six-month rule for Councillor John Bishop, on ill-health grounds, for an additional six-month period, until 15 July 2022, subject to re-election in May 2022.

REASONS FOR DECISION:

(1)       Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 states that ‘if a member of a local authority fails throughout a period of six consecutive months from the date of his last attendance to attend any meeting of the authority, he shall, unless the failure was due to some reason approved by the authority before the expiry of that period, cease to be a member of the authority’. Despite attempts for this to be changed (the Local Government Association previously lobbied for this to be dealt with potentially under the Coronavirus Bill 2020), this remains the current situation. 

(2)       To enable Cllr Bishop to continue to serve as a District Councillor.