FEATHERS have been ruffled at County Hall after the new chief executive said some councillors, including two from Bromsgrove, weren’t on enough committees.
A row broke out when 15 councillors were named and shamed, but the chief, Trish Haines, claimed a report of her speech to the overview and scrutiny committee was misleading. Mrs Haines, who took up her £170,000 a year post in March, said nearly a third of the county’s 57 councillors only attended six full council meetings a year – the minimum to get the annual allowance of £9,000.
“Twenty-four members sit on only one committee and 17 sit on none,” she said. One of Mrs Haines’ briefs since taking up her post was to make the county council more efficient. She vowed to create more committees to give the councillors more to do. Labour county councillor Peter McDonald and Conservative councillor, Debbie Hamilton-Jones were highlighted as two not doing enough.
Cllr McDonald said: “I have since received an apology from Mrs Haines. In fact apart from my county council duties, I am a member of the Bromsgrove Partnership Unit, Hereford and Worcestershire Fire and Rescue Authority and on a meals provision task group.”
The Advertiser/Messenger was unable to contact Cllr Hamilton-Jones before going to press.
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