Hedge End's Most Present Councillors

Cllr Allingham 

Hedge End Town Council has come to the end of its annual cycle of meetings with this week's meeting of the Finance and Administration committee, which was only just quorate.  In fact the Town Clerk was so concerned that four of the six Lib Dem members of the committee had announced they would not be turning up he phoned me during the afternoon to make sure I would be there.  If the committee does not meet, the Town Council's bills don't get paid, so it was fortunate that Cllrs Val Houghton and Derek Pretty were there as well to approve the monthly expenditure.

Cllr Worley

In the course of the year there are many legitimate reasons why an individual councillor might miss a small number of meetings - illness, family or work commitments, or clashing meetings for dual-hatted members who serve on other councils as well.  Some dual-hatted councillors seek to reduce that last problem by avoiding any involvement with the Town Council's committee work (which is a shame as a lot of important decision making is delegated to the committees). 

Hedge End Blogger therefore salutes two councillors who throw themselves with commitment into committee work and who have managed to attend 41 meetings in the last year.  Cllrs Margaret Allingham and Ray Worley have been present at 93% of the meetings at which they were expected, having missed only three meetings in the year. 

Unlike Borough and County Councillors, Town Councillors are not paid an allowance, but if they were, Margaret and Ray would be giving excellent value for money.  Overall, Hedge End Town Councillors turned up for 74% if the meetings at which they were expected, a percentage brought down by three members who could only manage to attend less than 50% of the time.

Attendance Record at Full Council May 2011 to April 2012
 

Worley, Ray	100%	12
Garton, Cynthia	100%	12
Day, Keith	100%	12
Allingham, Margaret	92%	11
Welsh, Jane	92%	11
Baynes, Sheila	83%	10
Bloom, Louise	83%	10
Pretty, Derek	83%	10
Clarke, Daniel	75%	9
Corben, Helen	75%	9
Houghton, Val	75%	9
Hughes, Peter	75%	9
Tennent, Bruce	75%	9
Sthankiya, Shankerlal	67%	8
Watson, June	67%	8
Kyrle, Rupert	58%	7
House, Keith	42%	5
Bloom, Caitlin	33%	4
Hughes, JennyAnn	33%	4

Attendance Record - Full Council and Committees
 

Allingham, Margaret	41	44	93%
Worley, Ray	41	44	93%
Garton, Cynthia	38	42	90%
Sthankiya, Shankerlal	37	52	71%
Day, Keith	32	33	97%
Corben, Helen	31	43	72%
Hughes, Peter	31	44	70%
Houghton, Val	27	33	82%
Welsh, Jane	26	33	79%
Baynes, Sheila	25	32	78%
Pretty, Derek	25	42	60%
Watson, June	21	33	64%
Bloom, Louise	19	21	90%
Clarke, Daniel	14	21	67%
Tennent, Bruce	9	12	75%
House, Keith	8	22	36%
Hughes, JennyAnn	8	23	35%
Bloom, Caitlin	7	21	33%
Kyrle, Rupert	7	12	58%

Notes:
Attendance as recorded in meeting minutes published on Town Council web site.
Calculations and tables exclude councillors who did not serve a full year.
Picture credit Hedge End Town Council