I see the Hounslow Chronicle has picked up the storyHOUNSLOW Labour Party's chief whip has cost council tax payers more than £2,000 per meeting he attended over the last year, the Chronicle can reveal.Jason Ellar made it to just six out of the 16 council meetings he was expected to attend during the past 12 months - just 38 per cent.The Syon ward councillor faced calls this week to return some of the £11,879 in allowances he receives each year, made up of the £9,276 'basic allowance' received by all councillors and the £2,603 'special allowance' for his role as chief whip.Former Labour councillor Noel Murphy said: "This is a lot of money for someone who has failed to attend so many meetings."The decent thing to do for any councillor who feels he can wield the axe to employees of the borough while attending so few meetings would be to return some of his expenses."Jason Ellar, whose father Colin Ellar is deputy council leader, became one of the UK's youngest councillors when he was elected in 2010 aged 18, and is currently in his third year at Oxford University.The role of chief whip is to ensure councillors attend meetings and vote in line with party policy.Mr Ellar has attended six of the eight council meetings at which he was expected in the last year.However, he has failed to appear at a single Isleworth and Brentford forum or licensing meeting during that period, sending his apologies on just two occasions.A spokeswoman for Hounslow Labour Group said: "Jason Ellar takes his responsibilities as chief whip and councillor very seriously."He keeps in constant contact with the administration and is involved at every level. He also returns from university on a regular basis to deal with issues in his ward."Opposition leader Peter Thompson admitted attendance at meetings was not the only measure of a good councillor but questioned how he could be expected to properly fulfil his role as chief whip."People in Jason Ellar's ward will decide for themselves if they think that he is pulling his weight when it comes to the local elections," he said."They might be very happy to have a councillor who is a full time student and who lives at university during term time."However, I do find it difficult to understand how he can be doing his role as chief whip of Hounslow Labour Group - for which he gets an additional allowance."Surely this role is all about having your fingers of the pulse of the party?"Mr Ellar is one of six councillors, out of a total of 60, to have attended fewer than three fifths of the meetings at which they were expected during the past year.The others all claimed to have been unwell or had clashes with work during that period. BEST ATTENDANCE (percentage)Lily Bath (Labour) 97Ruth Cadbury (Labour) 98Theo Dennison (Labour) 94Ajmer Dhillon (Labour) 95Sam Hearn (Conservative) 90Paul Jabbal (Conservative) 91Liz Mammatt (Conservative) 98Amritpal Mann (Labour) 100 WORST ATTENDANCE (percentage)* Alan Barber (Labour) 58* Rajinder Bath (Labour) 46* John Cooper (Labour) 57Jason Ellar (Labour) 38* Barbara Harris (Conservative) 45* Peta Vaught (Labour) 9 * Councillors Bath, Harris and Vaught all cited ill-health as the reason for their poor attendance rates. Councillor Harris lives in Nottinghamshire but said she tries to make it to as many meetings as possible and plans to step down ahead of the next elections. Councillor Cooper said it was sometimes difficult for him to attend as he works shifts at Heathrow. Councillor Barber said he had been heavily involved in the Olympics due to his work, which often made it hard for him to attend meetings. Figures based on the percentage of meetings attended by councillors, where they were expected, between September 25, 2011 and the same date this year, according to Hounslow Council's website.
Paul Fisher ● 4930d