Dear John,
You will be aware that the government, at your administration’s request, have taken the decision to postpone this year‘s all out council elections. In light of this, I’m sure you will agree that there is no good reason to not hold Full Council in the months of March and April.
As you have said yourself, the devolution process coupled with local government re-organisation, will amount to the biggest changes to local government in Essex, including in Thurrock, for more than a generation.
As we embark on this process, it is imperative that your administration is held to account and the public have an opportunity to hear or ask questions on what is happening.
I’m therefore writing to request that you, as Leader of the Council, join with me in calling for the mayor to schedule Full Council meetings in the aforementioned months. Whilst I’m aware that question time extends to other committees of the council including cabinet, they do not provide the same opportunity for engagement and scrutiny as Full Council does.
The public, I believe, expects nothing less and all 49 councillors should not be deprived of a single opportunity to ask questions on the changes and process which will inevitably follow.
With this month’s Full Council meeting primarily for the purposes of setting a budget, and May’s Full Council being ceremonial, without Full Council meetings in March and April, there will be no proper meeting of Full Council until June. This is clearly unacceptable and weakens the democratic process at a time when we cannot afford for this to happen.
I agree. We must learn from the past. Things have gone badly for Thurrock and we don’t need to go down that path again. Keep the transparency as promised.