A Conservative councillor is facing calls to stand down and stop claiming his £18,000 a year allowance amid criticism that he has failed to attend parish council meetings or help residents with problems.
The calls come after North Yorkshire Council member, Councillor Tom Jones, told a national news channel he would not be standing again at next year’s local election, saying he planned to “run my term out”.
The comments have further angered residents in his Scotton and Lower Wensleydale division who have become frustrated at Cllr Jones’ lack of help with their issues.
Julie D’Arcy, who lives near Tunstall, has filed an official complaint with the council due to the lack of engagement from Cllr Jones over plans for a proposed solar farm, which she said would profoundly affect her family home and the local community.
She said: “We’ve been unsupported by our elected representative in what is the biggest thing to happen to this little parish in a very long time indeed — I’ve described it as a democratic deficit.
“Cllr Jones did say on GB News that he was sitting his time out, and that’s what really made me very cross, because anybody with any decency, if they don’t want to do the job, should resign.”
Roger and Sue Sweet are part of a small group of residents in the village of Finghall who asked for Cllr Jones’ help with a planning matter, but were told he went to school with a family member of the applicant and could not get involved.
Mr Sweet said: “On that basis, if he’s local, there will be a huge number of people that he knows personally that he can’t represent.
“Surely you say ‘yes, I’m listening to what you’re saying and I am absolutely going to represent your views. I may not quite share them, but I’m very happy to forward them on’, but he didn’t do that.”
The resident added: “You can’t have your cake and eat it; just take the allowance and drift along like a lame duck.
“If you’re a man of principle, you should resign now and have a by-election.”
Several local parish councils have also noted Cllr Jones’ lack of involvement.
Constable Burton and Finghall Parish Council discussed a “lack of support” from Cllr Jones over planning issues at a meeting last year.
Scotton Parish Council noted last month that they had not received any correspondence from Cllr Jones for more than a year.
Hipswell and Colburn Green Party councillor, Kevin Foster, said residents from Cllr Jones’ division, which neighbours his own, had contacted him because their requests for help from their councillor were not being dealt with.
He added: “I have had to ask Cllr Jones himself to respond to constituent emails that had gone unanswered, which uses my time when I am already busy dealing with issues in my own ward.
“Residents deserve active representation and timely communication from their elected councillor.”
Cllr Jones declined to comment other than to say he might have used “unadvised” language during the interview with GB News and had just meant to say that he would not be standing again.
Councillor Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council and the Conservative group on the authority, said: “It’s up to individual members once elected how they represent their communities, and members do it in a variety of ways.
“The ultimate sanction for any member, if they’re not giving satisfaction to their communities, lies in the ballot box.”
He added: “There may be complaints about how Cllr Jones is managing his caseload locally, but he is still attending and playing a full part in committee meetings at the council. It is also worth noting that Cllr Jones does have a full-time job.”
In the interview, Cllr Jones suggested that if he were standing again, he would not stand for the Conservatives, saying: “The people who lent us their votes in 2019 basically we spat in their face.”
Earlier this month, the councillor was criticised for posting a meme on X showing the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster, which claimed the lives of 144 people including 116 children, during an online debate on great men in English history.
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