Voters should have the power to recall councillors that fail to attend meetings or are convicted of a crime, according to calls from Thurrock Council.
The council has written to local government minister, Sajid Javid, calling for the Government to introduce new legislation making it easier to get rid of councillors in the event of a ‘significant conduct or ethical breach’.
This would include attending less than 20% of council meetings, being convicted of a crime since the election, breaching the Members Code of Conduct or failing to engage in constituency work for six months.
The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Shane Hebb, said: ‘If changes were to be implemented – then should a councillor fall foul of an agreed set of criteria – like not attending meetings, conviction of a crime or breaching the members code of conduct - voters would have the choice to recall their representative and go to the ballot box to choose another candidate.
‘As councillors, we are effectively immune from our residents calling time on any bad practices until a future election. It is the belief of this council that significant lapses of judgement and behaviour do warrant sanction far sooner in some instances - and that our bosses - the electorate, should have a say in calling time on such elected representatives.