Did Your Councillor Turn Up?

Every few months I produce a blog revealing the attendance data of Havering's Councillors. The data is based on turning up to meetings in the town hall, and obviously that's not the only job of a councillor. But, it can tell a lot.

Some Councillors hardly turn up at all, some seem to be putting in more than their fair share, and others are expected at meetings and still struggle to make it. Which begs some questions.

Being a Councillor is a privilege and if one is going to sit on a committee or sign up to attend meetings then one should have the decency to turn up or step away and let someone else.

With the local elections a few weeks away, let's look at the final attendance figures for our current councillors. Many of these are standing again, some of them hoping or expecting a bit of an easy ride and even senior positions. Should they be, if their attendance is poor?

In this blog I'll highlight who is up at the top, who needs to question their commtiment, and I break down the party by political party.

By Political Party

Let's dive straight into the juicy stuff, which political party turns up ?

With the updated figures and EHRG separated out, the picture shifts a bit.

EHRG take the top spot with an attendance rate of 87.7%, just edging out the HRA on 86%. At the other end of the table, the Independent group sits bottom on 73.7%.

You’ll notice that some parties are expected at far more meetings than others. This comes down to a few factors. The HRA, for example, run Havering and so have regular Cabinet meetings. They also have more councillors, meaning more seats on committees and therefore a higher number of “expected” meetings.

By contrast, groups like EHRG, Independents and Reform have fewer councillors and fewer committee positions, which reduces their overall “expected at” numbers.

When a political group is small, a single councillor’s attendance can have a big impact on the overall percentage. The flip side is also true: in larger groups, strong individual attendance can be diluted by others with lower records.

Party	Expected At	Attended	%
EHRG	163	143	87.7%
HRA	1999	1719	86%
Lab	574	482	84%
Ind	277	227	81.9%
Ref	158	125	79.1%
Con	914	716	78.3%

Top Individuals.

Who has the best attendance?

I’ve broken the data down into two categories: highest % and most attended.

Highest %

Only Cllr Martin Goode (EHRG) has achieved a perfect 100% attendance record.

A total of 20 councillors have achieved over 90% attendance, showing a strong level of commitment across the chamber. They are:

• Martin Goode (EHRG) – 100%

• Gerry O’Sullivan (HRA) – 98.7%

• Reg Whitney (HRA) – 97.4%

• John Tyler (Ind) – 97.4%

• Graham Williamson (HRA) – 96.4%

• Ray Morgon (HRA) – 96.1%

• Keith Prince (Ref) – 95.8%

• Jane Keane (Lab) – 95.5%

• Oscar Ford (HRA) – 94.2%

• Christine Smith (HRA) – 93.6%

• Christopher Wilkins (HRA) – 93.3%

• Patricia Brown (Lab) – 92.8%

• David Taylor (Con) – 92.7%

• Matthew Stanton (Lab) – 92.0%

• Julie Wilkes (HRA) – 91.4%

• Keith Darvill (Lab) – 91.1%

• Trevor McKeever (Lab) – 90.9%

• Nisha Patel (Con) – 90.7%

• Gillian Ford (HRA) – 90.5%

• Paul Middleton (HRA) – 90.4%

  
  

Taking the top 10 councillors by the number of meetings attended, they have been expected at an average of 103.3 meetings and attended an average of 94.1 (91.1%).

The high attendance % is important because there is little value in being expected at a lot of meetings if you don't turn up

Name	Expected	Attended	%	Missed	Party
Christine Smith	110	103	93.6%	7	HRA
David Taylor	110	102	92.7%	8	Con
Bryan Vincent	115	100	87%	15	HRA
Ray Morgon	103	99	96.1%	4	HRA
Julie Wilkes	105	96	91.4%	9	HRA
Gillian Ford	105	95	90.5%	10	HRA
Matthew Stanton	100	92	92.0%	8	LAB
Laurance Garrard	107	86	80.4%	21	HRA
Jane Keane	89	85	95.5%	4	Lab
Christopher Wilkins	89	83	93.3%	6	HRA

The bottom 10

Who has the worst attendance?

At the other end of the scale, a small number of councillors have significantly lower attendance records.

It is worth noting that some of these absences may be due to long term sickness or other legitimate reasons.

The 10 councillors with the lowest attendance are:

• Damian White (Con) 38.6%

• Osman Dervish (Con) 50.9%

• Sarah Edwards (HRA) 54.7%

• Robert Benham (Ref) 56.0%

• Katharine Tumilty (Lab) 58.5%

• Mandy Anderson (Lab) 60.5%

• Philip Ruck (Ind) 61.3%

• James Glass (HRA) 65.3%

• Joshua Chapman (Con) 68.3%

• Jacqueline McArdle (Con) 68.6%

A key question from this set is "who is asking to be elected again?"

Robert Benham is hotly tipped to be the Leader for Reform, and therefore a potential for the next Leader of the council. However, he has barely made it to half the meetings he was expected at (which was only 50 over 4 years). None of the others are intending to stand.

This makes Robert Benham as having the worst attendance record of any Councillor seeking re-election.

Councillor Pay

The average councillor has been expected at 71.31 meetings since being elected in May 2022 (1.49 per month). They have attended an average of 59.44 meetings (1.24 per month).

Using an average meeting length of two hours, this means the average councillor has spent 118.87 hours in meetings over the course of the last term.

The basic allowance for a councillor is £10,412 per year, which equates to £39,045 over a full four year term. Based on this, the average councillor is being paid around £328.50 per hour for time spent in meetings.

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Turning up to meetings is not the only things Councillors do. There's casework, visiting residents, attending community groups and so on. It is worth noting that some Councillors have experienced serious illness during this period and so, as always, I want to remind you that I am not passing any personal judgement on these figures. This is just a reporting of the data. I've chosen not to highlight who was ill, as it's not my place to break their news for them. But, please bear that in mind when looking at the data

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Conclusion

These figures don't tell you the whole story.

We can't see who is ill, who is working outside of the meetings, but I do believe it is important for Councillors to turn up to meetings in the Town Hall.

Councillors are not just elected to do the community stuff, although that is nice. We're elected to debate, pass policy, scrutinise decisions and spending, and to make sure you (our residents) get the best from the council.

This is why I obsess over meeting attendance figures. Because if you're not turning up to meetings, where policy is written and changed, then I don't think you can really complain about policy.

Of course, scrutiny starts with self, and this is why I publish all of my payslips for my role as a Councillor. It's also why I am so loud about what I do, so you can keep account of my actions.

I've not got this perfect, but I hope this level of transparency is welcomed.

I also hope you feel that you're getting value for money, as you pay our wages!

Do you think Councillors are doing the work they should be?

• No
• Yes
• Unsure