A TOWN councillor has insisted that he has been wrongly excluded from meetings. Cllr Peter Yeo has been forced from online meetings of Shaftesbury Town Council on several occasions since town council meetings switched to online. He claims the town council has used the wrong standing orders to exclude him – designed for unruly members of the public, rather than councillors. The town council has insisted that the legislation it is using is correct and legal. Cllr Yeo told the March online meeting of the town council that there is no legislation which can exclude him, or other councillors, from digital meetings of the council.
LEGAL action put forward by Shaftesbury councillors could cost ratepayers up to £30,000. Heard during a town council General Management Committee meeting in January, Shaftesbury town clerk Claire Commons explained to councillors that the authority is at risk of judicial review, for “its handling of councillors in meetings”. She told the committee that Councillor Peter Yeo had sent a legal letter to the authority, which also “comes at a cost”. The authority has also recently received a letter claiming “costs and damages for breach of personal data”. Cllr Yeo has previously claimed that the council breaches European law when himself and Cllr Karen Tippins are excluded from meetings.