Cost of ‘disarray’ Torbay Council meeting revealed

Freedom of Information Act request reveals full cost

It cost more than £3,300 for Torbay Council to re-stage a meeting which ended in disarray earlier this year.

The mayor-making meeting in May ended with angry scenes over the appointment of a new civic mayor for the bay. There were tears, cries of ‘shame’, accusations and a mass walkout.

In February the council had been unanimous in nominating long-serving Liberal Democrat councillor Swithin Long (Barton with Watcombe) for the role, and his nomination was even seconded by Conservative council leader David Thomas (Preston).

But a sudden U-turn saw the Tory group withdraw its support for Cllr Long in a move connected to the delicate balance of power on the council.

There are 18 Conservative councillors and 18 in opposition, meaning the casting vote of the mayor is crucial. The new mayor is now a Tory councillor, Hannah Stevens (Furzeham with Summercombe).

Cllr Long was left ‘shocked and disappointed’ by the events of the May meeting, which ended with almost all opposition councillors walking out in disgust.

The mayor-making was put off until July, when a specially-convened council meeting at the Riviera Centre in Torquay finally appointed Cllr Stevens as mayor, with all of the opposition members abstaining.

A Freedom of Information Act request from Cllr Long has now revealed that it cost £3,319.04 to stage the second meeting – £450 to book the room and the rest to stream the meeting online.

“This is the cost to the local taxpayer for the minority Conservative administration to get their own way,” said Cllr Long. “That is spending that could easily have been avoided if they had stuck with what they agreed in February.”

In the meantime, the council has spent more than £4,000 on a King’s Counsel barrister to find a way around another organisational problem created by the inter-party friction, and has been rebuked by the Local Government Association, which said councillors should spend more time serving the public and less time arguing.

Mediators are being brought in to try to calm the tensions at the Town Hall.

But now there are doubts about whether all parties will even take part in the mediation, after another row at a cabinet meeting this week.

Members were discussing setting up new working parties to oversee matters including local transport and the future of Paignton’s Oldway Mansion.

Cllr Thomas said it was merely a ‘cleaning-up exercise’ to make the working parties function more efficiently. All will have three Conservative and three opposition members, but all will be chaired by Conservatives.

But Cllr Long said it was about the Conservatives taking control, and meant the Lib Dem group would have to ‘consider its position’ on the mediation process.

Council deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) urged: “Let’s get on with it. This is throwing all the toys out of the pram for a subject which is not that important.”