DENBIGHSHIRE councillors missed 51 meetings they were expected to attend in the last six months.
Whilst 18 councillors had 100% attendance records for the meetings they were expected to attend, many councillors missed either one or two meetings, and others missed more.
Denbighshire County Council collected the figures from the period between 13 July 2022 and 4 January 2023.
Cllr Merfyn Parry missed five meetings, attending seven of the twelve meetings he was expected to attend.
But Cllr Parry said he attended the vast majority of council meetings at the three community councils in his ward, on top of his Denbighshire County Council workload.
“My priority as a county councillor is to look after my ward, and I attend nearly all of the community council meetings,” said Cllr Parry.
“My second priority is then to the county, and I try to attend as many of those as I can. That fits in with my full-time work as an agronomist. I look after crops for farmers.”
Cllr Elfed Williams missed four meetings, attending nine of the 13 he was expected.
Cllr Williams said: “I attend the main council meetings, but I’m on six sub-committees, which is more than a lot of other councillors.
“I also work full-time for a mental health advocacy charity. It’s important that we try and attract people from different backgrounds into the council.”
He added: “It’s important we attend as many meetings as possible, but before I go to a meeting, I do look at the agenda to make sure if there’s anything relevant to my local area.
“I do read all the minutes and discuss matters with my co-councillors as well. So I keep up to speed with any meetings I have missed.”
Cllr Alan Hughes missed three meetings of the six he was expected to attend.
Cllr Hughes said: “I attended all the important meetings. There were just a few clashes with work. That is the only reason; otherwise, I attend any meeting I can.”
The full list is below.
The figures are split into three categories: expected, present, and in attendance.
‘Expected’ refers to the number of meetings that the councillor was expected to attend whilst ‘present’ means the number of meetings that a councillor actually attended.
‘In attendance’ refers to meetings a councillor voluntarily attended.
1. Expected
2. Present
3. In attendance
The list below includes Cllr Brian Blakeley who sadly passed away in November last year.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Councillor Win Mullen-James | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| Councillor Terry Mendies | 12 | 11 | 0 |
| Councillor Rhys Thomas | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| Councillor Raj Metri | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Councillor Peter Scott | 9 | 8 | 4 |
| Councillor Pete Prendergast | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Councillor Pauline Edwards | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Councillor Paul Keddie | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Councillor Michelle Blakeley-Walker | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Councillor Merfyn Parry | 12 | 7 | 1 |
| Councillor Martyn Hogg | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Councillor Mark Young | 9 | 8 | 1 |
| Councillor Kelly Clewett | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Councillor Karen Anne Edwards | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Councillor Justine Evans | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Councillor Julie Matthews | 12 | 12 | 3 |
| Councillor Jon Harland | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Councillor Joan Butterfield | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Councillor Jeanette Chamberlain-Jones | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Councillor Jason McLellan | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Councillor James Elson | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Councillor Huw Williams | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| Councillor Hugh Irving | 10 | 9 | 2 |
| Councillor Hugh Evans | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Councillor Gwyneth Ellis | 14 | 14 | 4 |
| Councillor Gill German | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| Councillor Geraint Lloyd-Williams | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Councillor Gareth Sandilands | 11 | 9 | 5 |
| Councillor Eryl Williams | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Councillor Emrys Wynne | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Councillor Ellie Chard | 13 | 12 | 3 |
| Councillor Elfed Williams | 13 | 9 | 0 |
| Councillor Elen Heaton | 7 | 6 | 2 |
| Councillor Diane King | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Councillor Delyth Jones | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| Councillor David Gwyn Williams | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Councillor Cheryl Williams | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Councillor Carol Holliday | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| Councillor Brian Blakeley | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| Councillor Bobby Feeley | 9 | 9 | 3 |
| Councillor Barry Mellor | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Councillor Arwel Roberts | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Councillor Ann Davies | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Councillor Andrea Tomlin | 11 | 11 | 4 |
| Councillor Alan James | 11 | 9 | 1 |
| Councillor Alan Hughes | 6 | 3 | 0 |
