Call Made for Area Forum Chairs To Return Allowances

The opposition on Hounslow Council is suggesting that Labour councillors should return some of their members’ allowances following the cancellation of the majority of meetings scheduled to take place before May’s local elections.

12 out of 16 meetings which were supposed to take place between March and election day on May 7, 2026 have been called off. This includes all Area Forums, apart from the one for Chiswick, which allow residents to raise issues affecting their part of the borough – chaired by Labour councillors, a Cabinet meeting, and a Full Council meeting.

Conservative Cllr Jack Emsley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he was asked to cancel the Chiswick Area Forum, which he chairs. However, he refused, and said that Labour councillors who did cancel theirs should pay back their extra allowance.

He said: “It’s a huge privilege to be able to organise and chair Area Forum meetings for residents in Chiswick, giving our community the chance to learn about new projects, engage with local groups, and scrutinise the work being done by both councillors and the council. That’s why I’m proud that my Area Forum will be going ahead as planned on March 17th.

“It’s so disappointing that every other Area Forum in the borough has been cancelled. Area Forum Chairs are paid an additional allowance to organise these meetings. If Labour councillors don’t want to do the job, they should either pay back this allowance or hand it over to councillors who will do it for them.”

Councillors are paid an additional £8,300 per year on top of their councillor allowance for chairing area forums, which meet four times a year – averaging £2,075 per meeting. The councillors who chose to cancel their forums are:

Cllr Alan Mitchell (Labour) – Bedfont and Feltham Area Forum
Cllr Bishnu Bahadur Gurung (Labour) – Hanworth Area Forum
Cllr Daanish Saeed (Labour) – Central Hounslow Area Forum
Cllr Gurmail Lal (Labour) – Heston and Cranford Area Forum
Cllr Karen Smith (Labour) – Hounslow South, Isleworth and Osterley & Spring Grove Area Forum
Cllr Marina Sharma (Labour) – Brentford and Syon Area Forum

The LDRS asked each councillor who has cancelled a meeting why they opted to do so, and whether they would be willing to pay back £2,075 for the meeting they will no longer chair. None of them responded, however a spokesperson for Hounslow Labour said: “The work of Area Forum Chairs is a year-round responsibility, which extends to more than just chairing the occasional meeting.

“It includes working with officers to progress the action plan tracker and generally holding the council to account over decisions affecting the local area. The Chairs’ decision not to go ahead with area forum meetings, many of which were scheduled during the pre-election period, was not taken for party-political reasons.

“The same cannot be said for the political grandstanding of Councillor Emsley. The Conservatives have proposed cutting the number of staff who facilitate area forums and who work with local voluntary organisations.

“They have also proposed abolishing Special Responsibility Allowances for Area Forum Vice-Chairs. With that in mind, will Cllr Mushiso be repaying the £2,770 that he received as Vice-Chair of the Chiswick Area Forum?”

Hitting back at Hounslow Labour, Cllr Mushiso said: “Labour seems to use this argument every time we challenge them on giving the public value for money. Well, [when] the public elect a Conservative majority, we will have the political mandate to remove some of the unnecessary special responsibility allowances posts.

“Moreover, when councillors take it upon themselves to cancel statutory meetings claiming there is nothing to discuss, they deny residents their basic democratic right. When I chaired the Chiswick Area Forum sometime back, a former senior officer contacted me with a suggestion to cancel the area forum because it clashed with the Labour Party Conference! I refused.

“Where public meetings are cancelled by elected officials, special responsibility allowances (SRAs) linked to setting up or chairing those forums should be returned. Accountability used to mean something in Hounslow. We need it back.”

A Hounslow Council spokesperson said: “In the run up to an election, necessary council meetings go ahead, in compliance with any regulations. However, as at any time, if a meeting does not have sufficient business to consider, the Chair of that meeting is asked if they want to cancel it, or not. The Chair makes this decision.

“This was the case with all cancelled meetings over the next few weeks. Each associated Chair was asked their view and decided not to hold the meeting in question.”

Philip James Lynch – Local Democracy Reporter

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