Marvin Rees calls councillors' plan to complain a 'fake debate'

“I feel that we’re being ignored," an opposition councillor said

Watchdogs holding Bristol City Council to account say they are being “ignored” and “disrespected” by the administration – and plan to make an official complaint.

But Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees has hit back by accusing opposition councillors of trying to “throw mud and create fake debates”.

The news comes two months after the ruling Labour group was accused of “marginalising” scrutiny by backbench members, who are tasked with holding the administration to account.

A cross-party scrutiny commission agreed to submit a formal complaint at their latest meeting on November 28 after education officials and an invited cabinet member failed to attend. Bristol Live understands they planned to submit the complaint by the end of last week.

On the agenda was a damning internal report detailing the performance of the council’s services for children with special education needs or a disability (SEND).

The report states: “The scrutiny commission are invited to ask questions of the executive director”.

But no-one from the council’s education department or the ruling Labour administration was there to answer the commission’s questions about the council’s SEND failures.

That left a strategic intelligence officer struggling to provide answers.

Commission chair, Conservative councillor Claire Hiscott, said: “Everybody is invited to every meeting.

“I am pretty, pretty annoyed that we have nobody here from that department [education] at all. 

“I feel like we are asking questions that cannot possibly be answered and that’s not how scrutiny should be done.

“I feel that we’re being ignored. I feel that scrutiny is not being taken seriously. But I cannot make people attend.

“Would everyone be in favour of me writing an official, strongly worded letter of dissatisfaction?”

None of the commission’s nine members objected. They included four Labour councillors, two from the Conservative group, two Greens and one Liberal Democrat.

Labour’s Brenda Massey expressed her frustration that “we don’t have anybody from education”.

Green councillor Jude English said: “It just feels actually really quite disrespectful of us and of people who have travelled to come to the meeting. 

“I just despair actually.”

Bristolian mother Jen Smith, who has children with SEND, made her way to the meeting with her children but left when she realised none of the education officials were going to show up.

The commission heard the executive director of education, Jacqui Jensen, was chairing a meeting of the city’s multi-agency safeguarding partnership, Keeping Bristol Safe.

The cabinet member for women, children and young people, Helen Godwin, whose son was ill, also sent her apologies.

The new education director, Alison Hurley, did not attend. A council spokesman said Ms Hurley “had not received an invite” and “had a diary clash when the meeting was brought to her attention”. 

“Apologies were sent,” he said.  

No substitutes appeared on behalf of Ms Jensen, Ms Hurley or Cllr Godwin. 

Deputy chair for communities Asher Craig and cabinet member for adult social care Helen Holland were there to answer questions about their areas of responsibility, which do not include SEND services.

Commission members noted it was up to individuals to “prioritise their time” when they had meeting diary clashes, and apologies should be sent and substitutes arranged.

The council was asked for a response on the matter, but a spokesman said the mayor would be “blogging about these issues” so “we won’t be providing an alternative statement”.

What Marvin Rees has said

Mr Rees did not address the failure of any education officials to show up at the meeting in his blog about “women in leadership”, published on December 5. 

Instead, he defended Cllr Godwin’s absence, citing her son’s illness, and accused opposition councillors of failing to make allowances for cabinet members with young children and families.

“These attacks are not real political debate,” the mayor wrote. “Rather it’s symptomatic of the deterioration in the tone and quality of our civic discourse. 

“I don’t usually respond to the efforts to throw mud and create fake debates.  But I thought I would on this occasion.

“We made a pledge to make politics in the chamber child friendly and we have. 

“And we will stick with it in the face of whatever criticisms the opposition may try to dredge up and pass off as real politics.”

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