TORIES on Newcastle Borough Council are coming under fire for missing too many committee meetings.

Council records show three Tory members of the ruling Conservative Lib Dem coalition have attended less than 15 per cent of their meetings since May – despite being entitled to a basic allowance of £3,365 a year.

Their records have come to a head after one of them – Sarah Myatt – quit her council seat after attending just two of her 16 scheduled meetings.

Her departure has sparked a by-election in the Ravenscliffe ward and the Liberal Democrats are seizing on the attendance records of councillors.

The worst offenders are Tories Tracy Taylor, who has attended just two out of 20 meetings, and councillor John Heesom, who has been to two of his 14 meetings.

According to figures obtained by The Sentinel, Mrs Myatt, who was unavailable for comment, did not attend any meetings of the three committees she was on, and turned up to two out of six full council meetings.

Westlands councillor Mr Heesom, below right, is the vice-chairman of the overview and scrutiny (O&S) economic committee, but has not attended a single meeting, despite receiving an additional £1,130 for this role. Apart from that, Mr Heesom has attended just one other committee meeting and one full council meeting.

Mr Heesom said: “When I accepted the role of vice-chairman I was employed in the area.

“I’m now working away a lot, so it’s very difficult to attend meetings.That said, I do a lot in the background. I speak to the committee chairman, John Williams, on a regular basis, before every meeting.

“For the first six months of this year all the committees were finding their feet with the new scrutiny method, so it’s been difficult for everyone."

Ms Taylor, below left, who won her Wolstanton seat in 2007, is a member of the public protection committee, O&S transformation committee and the improvement board, but has not attended any of those meetings.

Based on the council’s records, she has turned up to just two of the six full council meetings since May.

Ms Taylor said: “The whole issue of attendance goes across the three parties.

“I work full-time and have young children, which limits the amount of time I have available in the evenings.

“But I do try to focus on residents’ concerns.”

Council leader Simon Tagg, who also leads the Conservative group, reiterated that absenteeism is an issue across all parties.

He said: “Sarah Myatt had a number of personal reasons to contend with, which is why she was unable to attend some meetings.

“But this is not just a Conservative party issue. Some Liberal Democrats also have poor attendance records, and people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

“It’s also important to look at the work people do in their wards to get the full picture of the work the Conservative councillors do.”

A further Conservative councillor, Nora Salt, also has a poor attendance record, but all groups accept she has been ill and unable to come to meetings.

The council records show no other councillors have missed more than half their meetings, with some boasting near-perfect attendance records.

Leaders of the other political groups today condemned the poor attendance of some councillors.

Robin Studd, leader of the Lib Dem group and deputy council leader, said: “If councillors in my group were doing this I would ask them to resign. I will take to task any councillor who is backsliding.

“If a councillor isn’t turning up for meetings, or doing constituency work, they really have to think about what they’re doing as a councillor.”

Labour group leader John Williams said: "I have been concerned for a while about the attendance of certain councillors. Some of them will put in apologies but if they’re not turning up for meetings it is a concern, especially in the case of Mr Heesom, who is a committee vice-chair. I think it is up to the group leaders to take action.”

Should councillors resign for missing too many meetings?