Time to start work

It is high time that Cllr Len Jones got down to some hard work as our county councillor. After all, he does not seem to have been very busy since the last election, in 2004, when he was returned unopposed.

I made a Freedom of Information enquiry to Gwynedd Council, asking for the attendance records of councillors at Full Council meetings - as well as committees and sub-committees of which they were members. The information supplied makes interesting reading.

In addition to the Full Council, Cllr Len was a member of the Care Scrutiny and Charity committees - but his attendance record leaves something to be desired!

Between the 2004 and 2008 council elections, he attended 16 out of 22 Full Councils (72.7%), 18 out of 23 meetings (78.3%) of the Care Scrutiny Committee and a pathetic 5 [yes, just 5] of 16 meetings (31.3%) of the Charity committee.

Taken together, he attended only 39 out of 61 meetings, which is just 69.7%.

What's more, Gwynedd Council minutes show that of the 22 meetings Cllr Len missed, he only sent apologies for 7 of them, so for more than two-thirds of them he didn't turn up and didn't send his apologies for not being present. That is just not good enough!

We expect our county councillor to represent us properly and to turn up for meetings. And, if prevented from attending due to circumstances beyond his control, to send apologies for his unavoidable absence. It is only common courtesy after all.