External representatives on East Lothian Council’s Education and Children’s Services Committee will no longer have voting rights following a decision made at a council meeting yesterday (12 December).
The Education and Children’s Services Committee is in place to support the development, determination and review of policies that relate to these important service areas. Alongside 12 elected councillors, the committee has four unelected representatives with full membership, including voting rights. There are three religious representatives for the Church of Scotland, the Roman Catholic Church and the Scottish Episcopal Church, and one trade union representative for Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS).
In 2019, Perth and Kinross Council became the first Scottish local authority to withdraw the voting rights of religious representatives on its Lifelong Learning Committee. This has since been followed by a number of other council areas including City of Edinburgh, Fife, Moray, Orkney Islands and Scottish Borders.
Consultation
East Lothian Council held a public consultation for three weeks from 23 October to 10 November to determine views on the issue. The consultation received 112 responses; 84% of respondents supported the removal of voting rights for religious representatives while 56% supported the removal of voting rights for the trade union representative. Having considered the consultation responses, Councillors voted to withdraw external representatives’ voting rights. The representatives remain members of the Education and Children’s Services committee.
Principle and practice
Cabinet member for Education and Children’s and Family Services, Councillor Fiona Dugdale, said: “The consultation was held to determine views on the principle and practice of non-elected representatives holding voting rights on a council committee, and did not reflect on the contributions of the individuals who hold those positions. Education represents over half of the council’s budget and, through our schools and our Children’s Services, the policies and practices have significant reach and impact across East Lothian.
“External representatives remain valued members of the Education and Children’s Services committee bringing a wider perspective to debates and helping to support us to achieve the very best for our children and young people. As Convener of the Committee, I look forward to our continued working relationship.”
Papers
The Council paper is available to read online (Council meeting Tuesday 12 December, item 06)
The full consultation results are available to read online (Members’ Library 31 December 2023, item 118/23)