CALLS have been made for a councillor to resign after he fell asleep in a meeting about child sexual exploitation.
Wath’s Coun Alan Atkin reportedly fell asleep during a meeting with other Rotherham councillors regarding work to tackle child sexual exploitation.
Following the grooming scandal and subsequent Jay report in 2014, Rotherham Council has held regular meetings to update councillors on work being done to ensure children are safe.
Coun Atkin said: “I’m a human being, people fall asleep sometimes.
“I put it down to my age and weight.
“People fall asleep at work all the time, don’t they?
“It happened, I wish it wouldn’t have happened.
“I was probably asleep for two minutes.
“Everybody is making a mountain out of a molehill.”
Leader of Rotherham Council Chris Read said his actions were not professional.
He added: “The Labour Party takes tackling child exploitation incredibly seriously and the response of the council to threats to children has been transformed under our leadership in recent years, as the presentation to scrutiny showed.
“Coun Atkin’s conduct in the meeting was far from the standard of professionalism and diligence we expect from our elected officials, and as such we have suspended the whip from Coun Atkin.
“We are a changed Labour Party and the public have a right to know that all elected officials are of the highest standard.”
