The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Council Leader’s fantasy land?

Leader of the council, Councillor Alan Taylor

Due to his ongoing illness, Council Leader, Councillor Alan Taylor was for the third time unable to attend the full council meeting and present his report to the council, a statistic that prompted questions about the payment of his £20,000 leaders’ allowance. Councillor Robert Clegg, backed by councillors on both Conservative and Labour benches suggested Councillor Taylor should set an example by not taking the allowance for the time he has been absent – since July 2008, to groans of dismay on the Lib Dem benches.

Commenting on Councillor Taylor’s written report to the council, Conservative Leader Councillor Ashley Dearnley likened the report to a novel he read in his childhood, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which children entered a fantasy land through the wardrobe. He compared this to Councillor Taylor being in fantasy land and completely out of touch with the reality of council business and yet still presenting the leaders’ written report rather than entrusting the job to the person who has been deputising for him, Councillor Irene Davidson.

Councillor Dearnley was particularly scathing of the fact that Councillor Taylor had not mentioned the highly controversial Pay and Grading Review in his report and this proved he was “out of touch”. He also said that reports ought to be honest and, for example, acknowledge the impact on jobs the current economic climate was having in the borough, “instead of suggesting jobs are being created when in fact they are being lost”.