North Northamptonshire Council meeting move sparks democracy row

North Northamptonshire Council leader Jason Smithers said the idea to hold daytime meetings had come following input from the public

Claims that moving full council meetings to daytime is anti-democratic have been dismissed by the authority's leader, who said it could create a "fresher faced council".

North Northamptonshire Council voted to move the meetings forward from 19:00 to 14:00 on a trial basis.

Labour group leader Jean Addison said "councillors will have to stand down".

Conservative council leader, Jason Smithers, said it would lead to "better member engagement".

Councillors voted for the change at the local authority which only came into existence in May as a replacement for the failed Northamptonshire County Council, on Wednesday.

Labour leader Jean Addison said the meetings time move would disenfranchise the public and force some councillors to considering standing down

Opposition leader Mrs Addison said when the new authority was formed it was agreed to hold meetings at 19:00.

She said evening start times allowed working people and those with child care commitments to become councillors.

She said: "I know we are paid an allowance, but it is not necessarily about money.

"It is getting employers to agree to having that time off. If it becomes permanent, councillors will have to stand down."

Labour's Simon Rielly, who works as a teacher, and Alison Dalziel said they would struggle to attend daytime meetings.

Conservative backbencher Scott Brown said the move was anti-democratic.

"At the click of a finger with this motion, not based on any facts or data, we have done away with the opportunity of 150,000 people going to the meetings," he said.

He said the change had been pushed through by "old, stale, grey, retired business owners".

Mr Smithers said: "If you consider some of the decisions can go into multi-million pounds it is ludicrous to be debating something at 10 at night.

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"Trying to make decisions late at night when councillors are very tired and officers are too, there is a tendency to rush things through without taking the implications into account.

"We are hoping to see a fresher-faced council and better member engagement."

He added councillors would have been aware they would have to attend some daytime meetings when they stood for election, with many other committees having always been held in mornings or afternoons.

A North Northamptonshire Council spokesman said: "It was envisaged the business of some meetings would take several hours to determine, so it was felt an earlier start time would provide more flexibility for debate."

The change will operate on a trial basis taking in the next three full council meetings, while February's budget meeting will start at 10:00 GMT.