COUNCIL IN COURT BID.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. MATHER A COUNCIL was yesterday preparing to go to the High Court after a bureaucratic bu·reau·crat n. 1. An official of a bureaucracy. 2. An official who is rigidly devoted to the details of administrative procedure. bu blunder left them stripped of their powers. All 33 councillors on a Welsh local authority were disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. from their duties after a technical error meant they missed a deadline for signing their new code of conduct. The Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (mûr`thər tĭd`vĭl), town (1981 pop. 38,893) and county borough, 43 sq mi (111 sq km), S Wales. Located on the Taff River, the town is connected to Cardiff by canal. It has ironworks and steelworks. County Borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (excluding Scotland), to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. councillors thought they had until December 21 2001, to put their names to the new code. But a mistake by the official drafting the resolution meant they only had until November 4. The mistake came to light too late when the local authority ombudsman was looking through the minutes of the meeting. The official mistakenly wrote that councillors would implement the code "immediately". But under the council rules "immediately" means within eight weeks. Officials are now urgently drawing up papers in a bid to get the resolution quashed. Chief executive Garry Meredith said he hoped the High Court would make a decision within the next few weeks and remove the possibility of the councillors facing new elections. In a statement he said: "If the proceedings are successful all members would be re-instated." Members of all Welsh local councils have to adopt a code of conduct under new regulations passed by the Assembly. Once a code has been adopted councillors must give an undertaking to abide by To stand to; to adhere; to maintain. See also: Abide it within two months. If they fail to do so, as in this case, they cease to be councillors. |
|
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion