How often do your councillors turn up?

In Basingstoke, we have a two-tier system - Hampshire County Council look after things such as transport, education and social care, whereas Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council look after council tax, waste collections and housing.

When it comes to electing councillors, residents are entitled to elect both county and borough councillors.

Usually a third of the council is up for re-election at a time, which was the case in May of this year.

Since then, there have been four full council meetings and a number of committee meetings.

At full council, major decisions are voted on by everyone elected, whilst specific issues are discussed, debated and scrutinised at the relevant committee meeting.

Councillors don’t always attend the same number of meetings - those on committees will have more meetings to attend.

Also to take into consideration when reading the figures is that they only span from after May’s election until the attendance figures included on the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council website on September 27.

As such, there has been three full council meetings, which includes one ‘mayormaking’ meeting.

However, when meetings of specific committees are taken into consideration, some councillors have been expected to attend 14 times. The overall figure for attendance was 84.19 per cent.

Of all the councillors, 23 out of the current 60 councillors have an attendance rate of 100 per cent, meaning they have attended everything they were expected to.

However, of those, there was three councillors that have attended 50 per cent or less, whilst a further eight have an attendance rate of two thirds or below.

The cabinet

Name: Ken Rhatigan
Ward: Kingsclere
Attendance: 100 per cent
AS LEADER of the council, Cllr Ken Rhatigan is present at full council as well as cabinet meetings. Representing the ward of Kingsclere, he has been present at five of five meetings.
He also has the highest allowance of over £30,000 per year. The Conservative is also on the Basing View Executive Committee.

Name: Simon Bound
Ward: Rooksdown
Attendance: 100 per cent
DEPUTY leader Simon Bound is also the cabinet member for communities, culture and partnerships.
With an attendance of 6/6 since May, Cllr Bound is also the only other councillor that has an annual allowance of over £20,000.
The Conservative is also on the Manydown Executive Committee.

Name: Hayley Eachus
Ward: Kempshott
Attendance: 71.43 per cent
CLLR Eachus is the cabinet member for environment and enforcement, and has been widely-criticised for the new waste collection contract.
Her attendance is the second-lowest on the cabinet, missing one meeting of both cabinet and council.
Her allowance is £18,702/yr.

Name: Rebecca Bean
Ward: Hatch Warren & Beggarwood
Attendance: 80 per cent
BEING promoted to the cabinet for the first time in May, Cllr Bean is the cabinet member for borough development and improvement.
Cllr Bean has been present at four of the five meetings she was expected at.
She too has a £18,702 allowance.

Name: John Izett
Ward: Burghclere, Highclere and St Mary Bourne
Attendance: 85.71 per cent
AS CABINET member for regeneration and property, Cllr Izett is responsible for the upcoming redevelopment at the Leisure Park.
His only absence is the May 14 Basing View Executive Committee meeting, of which he is chair.
His allowance is £18,702/yr.

Name: Tristan Robinson
Ward: Sherborne St John
Attendance: 66.67 per cent
CLLR Robinson has the lowest attendance of anyone on the cabinet, which also puts him as the joint seventh lowest amongst the whole council.
He has missed one cabinet and one full council meeting, taking place on June 11 and May 16.
The cabinet member for homes and families’ portfolio includes affordable housing, benefits and tackling homelessness.
As well as Cllr Bean, he was promoted to the cabinet following May’s election.
Alongside his cabinet colleague, he has an allowance of £18,702, making him the highest earning councillor in the bottom 15 when it comes to attendances.

Name: Hannah Golding
Ward: Oakley and North Waltham
Attendance: 100 per cent
THE two portfolio holders not included in the first page both have 100 per cent attendance.
Cllr Golding is the cabinet member for finance and service improvement, having attended six out of six meetings so far since May.
Her allowance is £18,702 per year.

Name: Mark Ruffell
Ward: Upton Grey and The Candovers
Attendance: 100 per cent
AS WITH Cllr Golding, Cllr Ruffell’s attendance is 100 per cent.
He is the cabinet member for planning, infrastructure and natural environment.
Cllr Ruffell’s attendance include three cabinet meetings and three full council meetings.

The ever-presents:

Name: Diane Taylor
Ward: Oakley and North Waltham
Attendance: 100 per cent
CLLR Taylor is currently the Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane.
The Mayor is responsible, in a non-political way, for furthering the interests of the borough where an appropriate occasion arises.
She attends full council meetings.

Name: Michael Westbrook
Ward: Brookvale and Kings Furlong
Attendance: 100 per cent
WITH one hundred per cent attendance, the Labour Deputy Leader in the council is among the 23 councillors with a perfect attendance record.
He is also a member of the Developmental Control Committee, attending all seven committee and council meetings.
His allowance is £7,014 per year.

Other ever-presents:

Simon Bound, Rooksdown
Jane Frankum, Popley West
Paul Frankum, Popley West
Roger Gardiner, Silchester
Dave George, Whitchurch
Stephanie Grant, Buckskin
Ryan Hickling, Eastrop
Tony Jones, Buckskin 
Sean Keating, South Ham
Clare Kinnear, Kingsclere 
Andy Konieczko, Brighton Hill
David Leeks, Tadley South
Warwick Lovegrove, Baughurst & Tadley
John McKay, Grove
Colin Phillimore, Overton, Laverstoke & Steventon
Ken Rhatigan, Kingsclere
Clive Sanders, East Woodhay
Ian Tilbury, Overton, Laverstoke & Steventon
Gary Watts, South Ham

Lowest attendances:

Name: Ruth Cooper
Ward: Winklebury
Attendance: 25 per cent
REPRESENTING the ward of Winklebury, Cllr Cooper has the lowest attendance on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Labour member has only attended one council meeting since May, on July 18.
She had sent apologies on two of the three meetings she missed.
Cllr Cooper is a member of the Manydown Overview Committee, as well as being a reserve member on three other committees.
She has not been asked to step in as a reserve as yet.
Cllr Cooper is entitled to the basic annual allowance of £7,014, and has been contacted for comment.

Name: Ronald Hussey
Ward: Grove
Attendance: 50 per cent
WITH the joint second lowest attendance on the council, Cllr Hussey is one of the two Liberal Democrat members for Grove.
Speaking to the Gazette, Cllr Hussey said that his absence was because of a holiday booked before his decision to re-stand, whilst the other was the mayor-making meeting.

Name: Colin Regan
Ward: South Ham
Attendance: 50 per cent
FINISHING joint with Cllr Hussey, Cllr Regan is one of three Labour councillors in the ward of South Ham.
As with Cllr Hussey, he missed the two May full council meetings, and his annual allowance is also £7,014.
He is also a member of the Human Resources Committee.

Name: Chloe Ashfield
Ward: Whitchurch
Attendance: 66.67 per cent
CLLR Ashfield, one of just two Labour councillors outside of Basingstoke town centre, has the joint seventh lowest attendance across the borough.
She is a member of the Scrutiny Committee, where she has attended just one of the three meetings since May.
Her allowance is £7,014/yr.

Name: Onnalee Cubitt
Ward: Basing
Attendance: 60 per cent
AS Deputy Mayor, Cllr Cubitt is set to take over from Cllr Diane Taylor next year.
However, since May, she has attended six of ten meetings.
The Conservative is a member of three committees (Audit, HR and Economic, Planning and Housing), and receives £8,361 per year as a personal allowance.

Name: Laura Edwards
Ward: Chineham
Attendance: 60 per cent
TIED with Cllrs Cubitt and Putty, Cllr Edwards finds herself joint fourth bottom of the attendance list.
She has attended three of the five meetings expected, missing both Economic, Planning and Housing Committee meetings.
The Conservative has an allowance of £7,014 a year.

Name: Dan Putty
Ward: Hatch Warren & Beggarwood
Attendance: 60 per cent
LIKE Cllr Edwards, Cllr Putty has attended all three full councils meetings.
However, the Conservative, who has served his ward for almost 25 years, did not attend the Licensing or Standard Committee meetings.
His allowance is £7,014/yr.

Name: Angie Freeman
Ward: Winklebury
Attendance: 66.67 per cent
NOT being on any of the committees, Cllr Freeman has had three full councils meetings scheduled, attending two of them.
The Labour councillor is a reserve on the Licensing Comittee and the Manydown Overview Committee.
Her allowance is £7,014, whilst her attendance rate of 66.67 per cent means both of Winklebury’s councillors are in the bottom 11.

Name: Elaine Still
Ward: Chineham
Attendance: 66.67 per cent
CLLR Still is another who is not on any committee, and like Cllr Freeman, has only missed one of the three council meetings so far.
The Conservative councillor has an allowance of £7,014.
She is a reserve member of three committees.
Joint with Cllrs Ashfield, Freeman and Still is Cllr Mark Taylor, of Brighton Hill North.