29 November 2019
Green Party councillors in Norwich have expressed disappointment that the general election is preventing important work being done at City Hall.
Martin Schmierer, Leader of the Green Party Group on Norwich City Council said:
“Council meetings have been cancelled over more than a month because of political sensitivities and lack of resource around the general election. While council officers are working incredibly hard, they are being given a near-impossible task by the Prime Minister who has called the third election this year that the city council has had to enable. If the Prime Minister wants this election, he should make sure that local councils are properly resourced and able to run them without stopping all their day to day business.
“As opposition councillors, Greens rely on council meetings to ask for even basic information that they need to do their jobs and represent local residents. As the council only holds eight full council meetings each year, the cancellation of one has a huge impact on backbench and opposition councillors who have to wait until the next meeting to get certain types of information. The last full council meeting at City Hall was in September and the next is in January, leaving a gap of four months between them. We need more democracy and fewer elections!”
Notes:
One full council meeting has been cancelled due to the general election, along with two meetings of Norwich City Council’s Scrutiny Committee, a meeting of the Sustainable Development Panel and a training session. Meetings of the Licensing Committee, Norwich Area Museums, the Planning Committee and the Cabinet have all been rescheduled.
