LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Will he fall on sword over meetings record?

I AM waiting for the resignation of Cllr Michael Bennett-Sylvester. He is on record as saying if his attendance fell below 90 per cent of council meetings he would resign. In his first full year as councillor from May 7 2021 to May 8 2022, official published stats show he attended 88.9pc of meetings.

Will Cllr Bennett-Sylvester now fall on his sword? Or does his “contract” with the people mean nothing?

There are also questions to answer about his comparable workload, and whether he is providing the level of scrutiny made out in this newspaper on numerous occasions.

It is well documented that he likes to talk about attendance in percentage rather than numerical terms, as this obviously suits him.

This is because he has attended only 17 meetings in his first year.

Just browsing on Rotherham Council’s website at a few opposition councillors brings up for the same period Cllr Collingham attending 24 meetings, Cllr Adam Carter 27, Cllr Rob Elliott 37, Cllr Emily Barley 34.

The list goes on of councillors who are on paper working harder than Cllr Bennett-Sylvester by attending a lot more committees and meetings.

The fact is Cllr Bennett-Sylvester said he would resign if his attendance fell below 90pc. It did.

Let’s hope another elected politician does not go back on their word.

Mr AA Fletcher, Rother Valley Resident