Wolverhampton councillors consider time limit on discussions to avoid 3am finishes

Wolverhampton Council Members from both parties spoke out at this week’s governance and ethics committee after spending a gruelling six and-a-half hour session setting the annual budget in March.

A further fatiguing forum followed in April which also went deep into the small hours – meaning not one of the city’s 60 councillors saw their beds until well after 3am.

Leader of the Conservative opposition Councillor Wendy Thompson said: “Frankly, I think it has just been ridiculous that we have been finishing at two o’clock in the morning on occasion.  This shows an incompetent council that is not getting through its business in the proper manner when a lot of people have to get into work the next morning.

“The budget meeting was basically an outrage, with people getting home at three o’clock in the morning and then some people having to get up to start work again at six. It’s absolutely outrageous.

“I am going to say quite publicly now that this Conservative group will not accept any more of this crazy timing of going on until the early hours of the next day. It is totally and utterly unacceptable,

“It’s alarming that this trend appears to have come in and it needs stopping. We’re not going to go down that route any more and that’s all there is to it,” she added.

“The length of time means we’re also going to have people going in and out of meetings like Piccadilly Circus. And no matter how tempting this may be – as some of the items are very boring – it is still unacceptable.”

Her colleague, deputy opposition leader Councillor Simon Bennett, also raised concerns about members constantly leaving meetings due to the sheer length of time they went on for.

He said: “There are valid reasons as to when people may be required to leave the chamber – such as if they are on call, but we shouldn’t just be allowing people to wander in and out mid-item, disappear for an hour and go for a cheeseburger or whatever, and then come back and be allowed to vote. So that needs to be clarified.”

Labour’s Councillor Paul Birch replied: “In truth, no-one wants to be here until three o’clock in the morning. So I think we’re all in agreement on that, not just the opposition. It is a non-contest in that sense.”

Councillor Celia Hibbert said more consideration should be given to members with young children.

“My kids have to go into school at eight o’clock and wake up at six-thirty in the morning. After the budget, because I didn’t get back until three I just had to stay awake as there was no point going to sleep – otherwise they would have been late for school. I’m a working mother and my children are my priority,” she said.

The council’s chief operating officer David Pattison, who was addressing changes to the constitution, told the committee: “One of the challenges that has certainly been raised with me by a number of councillors has been the length of full council meetings, and also the timing of various items within those meetings.

“So what we have done is gone and had a look at what other authorities are doing as well and benchmarked it. Interestingly, almost every other authority has a time limit for various items so it is clear and the agenda can be managed.

“Some of the meetings in recent months have lasted well beyond midnight, which is a challenge for many councillors who then have to work early in the morning.

“It’s therefore proposed that there are limits on items such as the report of the leader of the council, questions from councillors and members of the public and also potentially on motions. If the business hasn’t been got through, one of the key options we have is to adjourn,” he added.

All members agreed that the amendments to the constitution being discussed should be approved.