Frodsham Town Clerk has expressed her 'sincere apologies' for actions she took during the Budget Setting on 11 January.

During the meeting, Councillor Lucy Sumner was moved into the 'waiting room' after pursuing clarification on certain Budget items.

Several members of the public have since expressed concerns, criticising this decision and suggesting that opportunities for constructive discussion had been suppressed.

Comments were also made about the abrupt closure of the meeting, which saw one Councillor cut off while attempting to raise a point.

Last week, Cllr Sumner resigned from her Waterside ward post.

Speaking at last night's Full Council meeting, Jo O'Donoghue said: "I apologise to all councillors for overstepping the mark on Monday 11 January. [To the Councillor concerned], I particularly apologise to you for having put you in the 'waiting room' during the meeting.

"In hindsight, this was not acceptable.

"It didn't help the situation and won't happen again. Chair [Judith Critchley], I apologise for undermining your authority as Chair.

"In hindsight, I should have enabled the Chair to control the meeting and not have taken such an active part."

The Clerk's words were followed by a comment from Councillor Bill Stockton, who said: "I thank the Town Clerk for her apology. However, the meeting exhibited a lack of discussion and democracy that was not acceptable as a committee that is supposed to operate for the good of Frodsham residents.

"In short, it was a disgrace.

"Two Councillors endeavoured on a number of occasions to ask questions regarding expenditure, which is a normal feature of any sensible meeting.

"The result was that they were immediately shut down by the Chair. These questions should have been listened to and discussed sensibly by the Councillors, but this wasn't allowed, and to me that was astounding.

"This resulted in an unseemly and chaotic meeting on the brink of farce.

"It was undemocratic and dismissive of genuine concerns, which in turn results in disservice to the community. We were expected to rubber stamp a report, even though it may have been inaccurate or questionable.

"The meeting was rushed, unprofessional, and this must not be allowed to continue."

Three members of the public also spoke at the Full Council meeting, with one stating: "I am very concerned about what appears to be a lack of democracy in the attitude displayed by the Chair.

"Debate is stifled and the voices of some Councillors appear to be favoured, to the detriment of some others.

"It's been happening for years, apart from a brief respite when we had a different Chair.

"All Councillors are entitled to a voice. What happened at the last Budget meeting was one example. Putting one Councillor in the 'waiting room' was wrong and the fact that the Clerk sought advice from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils prior to the meeting regarding this option suggests premeditation.

Another praised the Clerk for her apology, adding: "but, at that meeting, questions seeking clarification were denied with a dismissive attitude, a lack of tolerance and aggressive body language.

"The biggest concern for me was the Town Clerk ejecting a Councillor into the 'waiting room'; for me, the equivalent of being told to stand outside the classroom at school for being naughty.

"That Town Councillor has since resigned, and I find that very sad.

"All of this would have been bad enough if it was part of the Town Clerk's role, but my belief is that none of these actions are even within the remit of the Clerk.

"That comes down to the Chair, because these behaviours were allowed without being managed, which again makes me wonder why.

"For me, it was quite plain and simply bullying."

This view was supported by the third public participant, who also thanked the Clerk for the 'professionalism' and 'integrity' she showed in apologising.

Having said this, he called for a 'humbling' apology from the Chair.

Cllr Critchley said: "I do take on board the concerns about the way meetings have been handled over recent months. Tempers have got a bit frayed.

"But, the problem I have as Chair, is that the way we do our business as Councillors is set out in legislation.

"We can't just have free-for-all meetings where we talk about everything. We have to set out an agenda, so that members of the public know what we are going to discuss and have an opportunity to raise any issues they want to express.

"The meeting has to follow the agenda. We can't introduce new items of business because we have not told the public that we are going to do that.

"Councillors may each speak on the agenda items, and then we move to a vote.

"If Councillors deviate from the agenda, my role as Chair is to bring the meeting back to the agenda. Valuable meeting time shouldn't be taken up with general enquiries that could have been dealt with by asking the Clerk before the meeting.

"I accept that I have probably not been clear enough when I have been stopping Councillors from talking, and that is what I need to address. I need to make it very clear that I am raising a point of order and stopping the discussion because Councillors are going off the agenda.

"I'm sorry if people don't like that, but we are bound by law to do things this way.

"When we become Councillors, we sign our declarations of acceptance, and we agree to abide by those rules.

"So, that is what I have been attempting to do. I have to say, it seems so much easier at an in-person meeting. It's much harder on Zoom, where I'm not in control of any of the technicalities.

"I apologise for not being clear as to why I am preventing discussion of some items at meetings. I have talked to Jo about how, together, we conduct these meetings, and we have both agreed that we need to take a step back and think very carefully about when, why and how we're going to intervene.

"I will not accept anybody wanting to go against the rules that have been set out in legislation and that we've agreed to abide by."

Cllr Critchley added that committee meetings will now have a finance item on the agenda, to allow for Councillors' questions on expenditure.

Councillor Mallie Poulton agreed that Zoom meetings pose challenges to open discussion, but added: "I think we have all got to take a little bit of blame for how we conduct ourselves at meetings.

"I certainly apologise for if I have been rude or out of place.

"A lot was learnt from that meeting, and I hope we can all go forward now, in a new year and with a new procedure."

The full meeting can be viewed here.