Councillor slams ‘irresponsible’ authority for going ahead with meeting

Rochdale council has been criticised by one of its own elected members for going ahead with a major meeting tonight.

The government’s latest coronavirus guidance advises against both large and small gatherings – and even family get-togethers – to ensure ‘social distancing’.

The authority has decided to proceed with this evening’s full council meeting – albeit in a ‘scaled down’ format involving only a quarter of elected members and with just two items on the agenda.

Councillor Danny Meredith – who works as a nurse – says this is not good enough, and he has accused chief executive Steve Rumbelow of being ‘irresponsible’.

Despite steps to truncate the meeting, Councillor Meredith says he stands by his email to Mr Rumbelow – which was brought to the LDRS’ attention by Lib Dem group leader Andy Kelly.

The message (sent yesterday) to the council boss reads: “I’m shocked and it is incredibly irresponsible to go ahead with tonight’s township meeting and full Council tomorrow. 

“This is the ‘most transferable’ virus know in the medical world. It’s a national and international pandemic, which will result in thousands nationally and millions internationally dead.

“As I stated, members in a ‘not at risk’ category will come in contact with family/friends who are in an ‘at risk’ category. Personally, I will not be coming as I am living with ‘at risk’ family members and technically I am in the same category with my own medical problem of asthma.   

“In conclusion, I cannot believe we are not following government advice. As a medical professional, I strongly advise other members and the public do not to attend the meetings.”

This was the second of two emails, the first of which urged Mr Rumbelow to immediately cancel the meeting in light of government advice – adding that there were ‘no essential items of business’ on the agenda.

Councillor Meredith – who chairs a council scrutiny committee – has been a nurse in emergency medicine for six years. 

And he is furious that the town hall meeting will still go ahead at 6pm this evening (Wednesday) – and remains open to the public.

He said: “I don’t believe this meeting should be going ahead. We are putting elected members, members’ family and friends and the public at risk – because these are still public meetings.”

Referring to Mr Rumbelow he added: “In my professional opinion, I think he is putting people at risk – I think he is being irresponsible – actually, I know he is being irresponsible.”

Councillor Meredith also said that there were not adequate facilities for hand-washing – or enough space in the council chamber- to justify the meeting going ahead.

However, Michael Garraway, committee and constitutional services manager at Rochdale Council, has defended the decision to go ahead with the meeting.

He said: “The full council meeting scheduled for Wednesday 18 March will be scaled down due to the current situation with Coronavirus/Covid-19 in the UK. All but two items have been removed from the agenda, with the others being deferred to a later date.  

“Fifteen councillors, the minimum number to enable decisions to be made are being asked to attend, instead of the usual 60. We feel this is a more responsible course of action in the current climate.”

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporting Service