Four councillors banned from council tax debates

It's after they failed to pay their own

Four Torbay councillors have been barred from debates on setting the bay’s council tax for the coming year – because they haven’t paid their own.

The Liberal Democrat councillors have had to withdraw from discussions on setting budgets and tax levels for legal reasons.

The information was released by Torbay Council in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The response says four councillors were in arrears at the end of March, but one has since paid up. The three councillors still in arrears at the time of writing are Jermaine Atiya-Alla (Ellacombe), Kelly Harvey (St Marychurch) and Yannis Nicolaou (Ellacombe). Cllr Ras Virdee (St Marychurch) has recently settled his account.

The council has not released the exact amount of each councillor’s arrears, but the total amount owed among them is £8,440.06.

The council has also confirmed that in accordance with Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act the councillors have not taken part in debates or votes regarding council tax.

The Act restricts the voting rights of councillors who have outstanding arrears of two months or more. They have to declare their situation at the beginning of any meeting during which budgets will be discussed.

They do not have to declare the amount of their arrears.

Cllrs Atiya-Alla and Nicolaou declared their situation at a full council meeting on 5 December 2024. Cllr Harvey (St Marychurch) – sent her apologies for absence from the meeting at which budget details were discussed.

All three councillors had declared Section 106 at a full council meeting in December 2023, meaning they could not take part in setting the bay’s council tax for the year 2024/25 either.

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat group on Torbay Council said: “Three councillors are currently in arrears on their council tax payments. They have publicly declared this as required.

“All of them have engaged with the council to bring their council tax back on track.

“This is an issue which has affected councillors of different political parties over recent years, and the council works with anyone in this situation to ensure repayment.”

Torbay Conservative Association chairman Daniel Boatwright said the situation was ‘almost unique’, and added: “Calling for higher taxes for residents whilst not paying your own council tax bill is unacceptable.

“Torbay Lib Dems now need to come clean about who in their group has not paid their dues and whether they have received money in donations which could instead have gone towards clearing those debts and ensuring Ellacombe residents were represented.

“Paying your council tax is a vital part of supporting local services, with councillors expected to set an example by keeping their own payments up to date.”

Mr Boatwright said all Conservative councillors were up to date with their council tax payments.

The Liberal Democrat councillors involved have not made any further comments.