At the first meeting of the new Shropshire Council, Cllr Duncan Kerr, the Green Party Councillor for Oswestry South, was elected Chair of the Audit Committee.

Duncan said:

“I would like to thank members of the Council for electing me to lead a Committee that will assess the governance, risk and controls in the Council. I am determined to ensure that the Council is accountable, transparent and provides value for money. Given that the turnover of the Council is over £700M a year we expect to be kept busy.”

In the Council meeting Cllr Kerr also posed a question about training to the two Reform Councillors proposed by the Liberal Democrats to be Vice-Chairs of the Health, and the People, Scrutiny Committees. Both candidates replied stating that they would refuse to attend the essential training on the Equality Act. Cllr Kerr commented:

“All parties are entitled to campaign for changes to national legislation on equalities or anything else, but it is Parliament, not the Council, who make legislation. The role of Councillors is to oversee the provision of services to residents in Shropshire which requires us to understand and comply with the current law. Most jobs require some element of training and in legally complex areas, like Health and Social Services, it is an unnecessary risk if those appointed Chairs or Vice-Chairs refuse. Breaches of the law could give rise to the payment of compensation we can ill afford. As they were unwilling to undertake the training I was unable to support their appointment.”