Councillor ‘silenced’ in question time

Rotherham Council has two members on South Yorkshire’s police and crime panel — Tory Cllr Tim Baum-Dixon and Labour’s Cllr Rukhsana Haleem.

A question was asked at the full RMBC meeting about how both had voted on the 6.7 per cent average rise for 2023/24, and for them to explain their stance.

Cllr Haleem responded, saying seven of eight members had supported the move, naming Cllr Baum-Dixon as the only one to go against.

She said she had voted in favour to see 75 more police recruited in Rotherham — 188 force-wide — and criticised the Conservative member’s stance.

After being told he could not answer, Cllr Baum-Dixon said: “The question was for both representatives of the panel. I think this is very unfair and undemocratic.”

Independent Cllr Michael Bennett-Sylvester pointed out that the Conservative member had been criticised and mentioned by name and therefore should have a right of reply.

“All of us here should be entitled to hear both,” he added. “Both members are elected as spokespeople on that committee.”

The Mayor of Rotherham, Cllr Taj Khan, who chaired the meeting, said it was because Cllr Haleem chairs the police panel.

Phillip Horsfield, RMBC’s legal and monitoring officer, said he would explain the advice he gave to the mayor privately to councillors.

He added: “As the mayor has ruled on that, it is not a matter of debate in this chamber right now.”

Cllr Simon Burnett, the Conservative who asked the question last Wednesday, said “a large portion” of the precept would cover claims related to the Hillsborough disaster and CSE in Rotherham.

He said: “How comfortable are you in Rotherham residents paying the price in their council tax for SYP’s failings? Surely this isn’t right.”

Cllr Haleem said she trusted the knowledge, skillset and experience of the police’s finance team.

After, Cllr Baum-Dixon explained his voting position to the Advertiser, saying he believed a fully-funded and more visible police force could be delivered without making residents pay more.

He added: “I welcome SYP moving towards priority-based budgeting but think this should have been done a long time ago rather than continually pushing the cost of inefficiencies on to taxpayers.

“For me the key point is that the force has over £40 million in general reserves — tens of millions more than the sensible safe minimum.

“They should be using some of this cash to fund increased costs instead of yet again making ordinary people pay up.

“It is not a choice between a higher precept with more police versus a lower precept and fewer officers.

“It’s time now for SYP and Rotherham Council to stop seeing hardworking families across Rotherham as a never-ending source of cash. Increasing local taxes should be the last option they consider, not the first.”