Council delays bringing in new councillor because it didn't have the rules to do so
A parish council was “pleasantly surprised” to have multiple applicants for a vacant seat, but then realised it didn’t have rules in place to co-opt a new councillor, members have heard.
St Georges and Priorslee Parish Council member Samuel Overton died aged 82 in December, leaving a vacancy in the Snedshill ward.
Clerk Victoria Brain admitted she thought they would be “lucky” to attract one candidate when the position was advertised.
When more than one applied she, the chairman and the vice-chairman realised the council didn’t have a “co-option policy” as it had never co-opted a member in its 33-year history.
Councils can co-opt councillors when there are no demands from the public for a by-election. It means that no public vote of people who live in the ward takes place, and usually the council itself votes on whether to add the new councillor.
An extraordinary meeting will be held next week to approve a co-option policy for St Georges and Priorslee, with a view to choosing a new councillor at the next regular meeting on Tuesday, May 18.
Ms Brain said she received expressions of interest from candidates and circulated these among existing parish councils, originally planning to hold the co-option vote in the April meeting.
Fair
“I think we were pleasantly surprised to find that there were a few people interested,” she said.
“My first thought, when we knew we had a vacancy, was that with luck we’d get one person interested.
“The reality was there was more than one and we needed to make sure the process of co-opting was entirely fair to everybody.
“At that point Richard said ‘Have we got a co-option policy?’ and I realised we hadn’t because I don’t think there’s ever been a co-option on this parish council.”
She said between them, she, chairman Richard Overton – the late Councillor Samuel Overton’s son – and vice chairman Brenda Richards decided to put one in place because “we needed to be fair, and seen to be fair, to all the candidates”.
She said the candidates had been told about the delay and the reasons for it.
Ms Brain said: “This time next week we will have an extraordinary meeting just to discuss and adopt an co-option policy, which means we then know exactly what has to happen and can proceed with the process.
“So it’s about a month’s delay, but it’s best to get this right and not rush things.”
