Councillors at loggerheads over whether seat should be declared vacant

Councillors at Thanet District Council are locked in a legal dispute over whether or not a seat should be declared vacant.

The council moved to formally declare vacant the Margate Central ward after Labour councillor Ian Venables took a job with a local rough sleepers support organisation in which the council is a partner.

But his supporters argued that this did not mean he was employed by the council and so should not be disqualified.

A vote saw 13 members of the minority ruling Conservative group vote to declare the vacancy but 27 Labour, Independent and UKIP councillors opposed this.

This was despite Tim Howes, who is both director of corporate governance and monitoring officer, telling councillors the council had a legal obligation to declare the vacancy and that if an unlawful decision was made, he would have to consider his duty to prepare a report under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

Thanet Rise, for which Mr Venables now works, is a partnership between charity Porchlight, Thanet District Council, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust and the Forward Trust.

It was created to promote the health and wellbeing of rough sleepers while they try to find and keep accommodation.

Mark Smulian