Question to the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee

Mrs Susan Hogg asked the following question of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee:

As the Councillors in this Chamber have been elected to serve the people of Maidstone, please can the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee tell me why some Councillors are not answering electors’ phone calls or emails, and what do you think is an adequate time scale for people to have an acknowledgement or answer to their query or questions?

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee replied that:

This has proved to be quite an interesting question because the situation is not as straightforward as it seems.  There are no rules laid down as to how, when or, indeed, if a Councillor should answer questions from members of the public.  I think that will come as quite a surprise to everybody.  It is up to individual Councillors to make these decisions themselves.  However, obviously, if one of their residents feels that they are failing in their duties, it is open to them to contact the Monitoring Officer and make a complaint if they wish to do so.

I cannot tell you as Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee why some Councillors are not answering their phone calls or emails because there is nothing within the remit of my post that says I have to contact every Councillor on the Committee to see whether they are doing what we would all hope they do.

You also asked me if I have a personal view on this, and the answer is I do because we have an Officer handbook, and in that it says Officers should endeavour to respond to all letters within 10 working days, and, if this is not possible, the customer should be informed of when they can expect a reply.  Officers should endeavour to respond to emails within 2 working days, and, if this is not possible, an email should be sent advising the customer of when they can expect a reply.

I hope that all of us as Councillors would endeavour to try and follow the same protocol that the Officers have, but with the caveat that the majority of Councillors do not have any PA support.  The number of emails, in particular, that we get these days makes it almost impossible to answer them all within 2 working days.  I personally get between 90 and 120 emails a day.  Other Councillors get a huge number of emails and you need to factor in holidays etc.  Being a Councillor is a voluntary role, and Members have other work and family commitments etc.

I do hope that all Councillors will endeavour to follow the Officer protocol, but it is not something that we can insist upon under any circumstances.

Councillor Mrs Blackmore, the Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Newton, on behalf of the Leader of the Independent Group, Councillor Sargeant, the Leader of the UKIP Group, and Councillor McKay, the Leader of the Labour Group, then responded to the question.