Former city council leader defends attendance record

CLLR BINGLEY ACCUSED OF 'LACK OF DEDICATION'

- ANDY PHILLIPS

THE former leader of Plymouth City Council has defended his record of attendance at authority meetings over the last six months, after an independent ward councillor accused him of a ‘lack of dedication’.

Cllr Richard Bingley, a Conservative who still represents Southway as a ward councillor, has been accused of failing to attend several meetings of full council as well as missing meetings on a customer services scrutiny committee.

The accusations have been made by Cllr Terri Beer, Independent ward councillor for Plympton Erle and deputy leader of the Independent Group, who said his record was ‘unacceptable’.

She claims that the city council’s website shows Cllr Bingley’s attendance to be 40%, which she believes is a ‘cause for concern’.

But Cllr Bingley said he has not missed any meetings of the infrastructure and growth committee, which he chairs, and had previously requested his withdrawal from the customer services committee as it clashed with other pre-booked meetings.

He also said he was ill prior to the last full council meeting and did not wish to infect others.