An argument over local politicians being sent to overseas conferences at ratepayers expense has spilled over at Ards and North Down Council.
At the full monthly meeting of the local authority on Wednesday (July 7), councillors clashed during a discussion surrounding the council’s decision to send an elected representative to a conference by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE).
APSE is a membership-owned organisation which maintains and develops a network of local government officers, managers and councillors from local authorities. The council report, which recommended attendance at the conference, states the organisation “supports local authorities to develop strong and sustainable public services.”
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The council was asked if it wanted to nominate one elected member for attendance at the APSE seminar and AGM from September 14 to 15 in Swansea. Attendance is free for two delegates from each council, one elected member and one officer, with attendees responsible for relevant costs for travel and subsistence.
The council, via the ratepayer, will cover the £108 return flight to Bristol, the £40 train to Swansea, and the £200 bill for three night’s accommodation - a total of £348 per delegate. The council report said no appropriate council officers were available to attend the event.
Alliance Councillor Gillian Greer proposed her party colleague Alderman Alan McDowell as the council representative, and received majority support from the chamber.
She said: “I think it is important that the council has a representative at this conference. I had a look through the details of the agenda for the conference, and you can see a number of issues that are affecting our council, in particular waste and resources.” She suggested the delegate bring back an update for Council officers and elected members."
SDLP Councillor Joe Boyle said: “We are part of this, there is information that is sought after that could be useful to this council, and we need to know what is going on. It would be a bit strange if there is a conference coming up and we don’t have a representative.”
Independent Unionist Councillor Tom Smith said it was “a waste of money.” He said: “There is no reason why this can’t be held by Zoom. Here we are again - I thought we were in a climate emergency, what are the CO2 emissions from sending people to this conference? There is nothing that will be said at this conference that couldn’t be emailed to us, or discussed over Zoom.”
UUP Councillor Carl McClean said: “It does stand in contrast to what we are currently doing - that is, having Zoom meetings ad infinitum, and quite effectively I think.
"There is a time and a place where face-to-face meetings are really essential, particularly if there is a lot of horse-trading and networking going on, but if it is just the dissemination of information, well in this day and age we need to start thinking about having those meetings on Zoom, or having information emailed across.”
All elected representatives except Councillor Tom Smith and DUP Councillor Alistair Cathcart supported sending the delegate to the seminar and AGM.
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