Issue - items at meetings - Questions and letters from Councillors

Letter from Councillor Kevin Allen.

15.1    Following the publication of a press release from the Committee Chairman in the Argus the following letter was received from Cllr Kevin Allen.

Dear Averil

In the Argus of Wednesday 12 August you accused the government of ‘playing politics’ over FE funding.

Irrespective of whether or not the accusation was well-founded did it not occur to you that by making such a partisan remark you yourself were ‘playing politics’?

Do you now accept that this needless intervention was a mistake?  And do you also recognise that you need to retain the confidence of all members of your committee, of whatever party?

Regards

Kevin

Cllr Kevin Allen

There was discussion on the importance of scrutiny being a non-political forum that allows for key issues to be raised and debated in an objective manner. It was agreed that the Chairman of the Committee needs to play a role in acting as the mouthpiece of the committee and therefore any comments made to the press need to be supported by the Committee as a whole; this will be particularly important in the coming months.