CHESHIRE East looks set to give councillors paid parental leave to encourage more people to stand for election and take part in the democratic process.
If the policy is agreed by full council it would apply to parents, regardless of their gender, and cover adoption leave to support those who choose to adopt.
Council leader Sam Corcoran (Lab) told Thursday’s meeting of the corporate policy committee: “Many other councils have already adopted parental leave policies and it's timely for us to look at doing the same.”
Conservative group leader Janet Clowes said in terms of public perception, there is an ambivalence about it because elected members are not employees and are not bound by the council’s normal employment law and requirements.
“So can I just ask what facility is available, if this is enacted, to offer reassurance to the wider public and to the member body, that the work of those wards will be covered?”
Head of democratic services Brian Reed pointed Cllr Clowes to a section of the report which states the councillor taking parental leave will need to arrange with their political group, other ward members or with neighbouring ward members, appropriate cover for their duties.
Cllr Andrew Martin (Con) said he was fully supportive of the proposal.
But Cllr Paul Findlow (Con) said there were some ‘significant practical potential difficulties in these arrangements’ of informally arranging cover ‘particularly to single member awards’.
“You’re asking some else to take on those duties, it would be negotiation presumably,” he said.
“I wonder if it will work because leave is not a concept which applies to members who are holders of a statutory office. We don’t have entitlement to leave.”
He said phone calls and emails can arrive in the middle of the night.
“How you reconcile that with this policy practically is going to be a very difficult challenge. I wouldn't like to see part of a population disenfranchised to whatever degree it might turn out to be by these arrangements, commendable as the principle may be.”
Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Con) said: “I understand and am supportive of the principle of all of this report.”
But he said he was concerned about the area of special responsibilities.
“I think it's important that if you are going to be off for six or 12 months, and this policy does allow 12 months, actually that's where the function of the council may become an issue,” he said.
He said it could particularly become an issue if someone holding an office with a specialised knowledge was off for such a long time.
Mr Reed admitted the policy was ‘not perfect’.
He said: “The overarching aim of it is to involve more people, a wider range of people, a broader spectrum of people, in the democratic process and I think is a good start.
“And this policy, if agreed, might well be changed, developed or improved as we go along.”
He added: “I wouldn't anticipate an immediate flood of very many individuals wishing to seek to avail themselves of it.”
The committee voted to recommend to council that the proposed parental leave policy be adopted.
Two committee members abstained.
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