Knowsley councillors have lowest attendance records in region, with St Helens second

KNOWSLEY councillors have the worst attendance records of any local authority in the city region, with St Helens a close second.

The average Knowsley councillor has been to just 11 meetings so far this year, missing almost a quarter of the council sessions they were expected to attend, according to the information currently available on the council’s website.

That is an average of 75.2 per cent attendance for the council.

Of the region’s other councils, St Helens came a close second-worst with an attendance rate of 76 per cent. All the region’s other local authorities recorded average attendance rates of more than 80 per cent, Halton coming out on top with 90.7 per cent.

In Knowsley, four Labour councillors – Terry Byron, Gillian Flatley, Andy Moorhead and Steff O’Keeffe – have turned up to less than half of their expected meetings. 

Cllr O’Keeffe has the worst attendance record, being absent from 70 per cent of the meetings she was scheduled to attend in 2019. Cllr Moorhead, the former council leader, missed two-thirds of his scheduled meetings.

Cllr O’Keeffe is also a member of the Merseyside Fire Authority, where she has a better attendance record, being absent from only one meeting out of eight this year.

Neither Cllr O’Keeffe nor Cllr Moorhead responded to a request for comment, nor did Cllrs Byron or Flatley.

As a party, the Liberal Democrats had the council’s worst attendance record. While Cllr Frances Wynn attended all eight of her scheduled meetings, group leader Carl Cashman and Cllr Ian Smith went to barely half of their expected sessions.

Cllr Cashman did not respond to a request for comment.

The best attendance record was claimed by the Green Party, with only group leader Kai Taylor failing to attend all his meetings.

Cllr Taylor did not respond to a request for comment.

As well as having the city region’s lowest attendance rate, Knowsley Council holds among the fewest meetings of Merseyside’s councils. In 2019, the council has held 76 meetings, only two more than Halton in last place.

Wirral, Sefton, St Helens and Liverpool councils all held more than 100 meetings this year.

Knowsley councillors are also some of the best paid in the city region.

The basic annual allowance paid to all councillors is £9,667.84, the second-highest in the region behind Liverpool Council’s basic allowance of £10,178.

Although there is more to a councillor’s role than attending meetings in the council chamber, this means that the average Knowsley councillor is receiving more than £800 per meeting they actually attend.

Cllr Graham Morgan, who leads both Knowsley Council and the borough’s Labour group, said: “Councillors do so much more than just attending meetings. They support their local communities at various events, and also carry out surgeries and case work for individual residents.  

“Many of our councillors are also nominated to serve on other bodies and organisations, whether locally, regionally or nationally.  

“And, of course, they are not full time – they almost all have their own jobs or studies to perform, and they all have families, friends and private lives. 

“So it’s not surprising at all that it is impossible to achieve 100% attendance.  Indeed, it is often the case that a particular council meeting clashes with another meeting or event. 

“Knowsley Council’s attendance level of around 75 per cent is a decent standard when you take all of this into account.  

“Speaking specifically about the Labour group of councillors, I am proud of how hard we work and hope that other political groups which don’t achieve our standard will try a bit harder to do so.”