Two Eastleigh councillors will not lose their seats despite not attending any council meetings for more than six months.

Councillors George Barker and Darshan Mann have not attended Eastleigh Borough Council meetings since May 2024 and November 2023, respectively, due to “recurring medical issues”.

The Local Government Act 1972 states that if a councillor fails to attend any meeting for six months they shall lose their position.

That is unless the failure was due to a reason approved by the council, and exemptions can be granted.

Councillor Baker was elected to represent Chandler’s Ford ward in May 2023 for a four-year term, while Councillor Mann was elected to represent Eastleigh South ward in May 2023 and has been a council member since May 2012.

The last meeting that Cllr Barker attended was full council on May 20, 2024. For its part, the last meeting for Cllr Mann was the Eastleigh Local Area Committee on November 14, 2023.

Now, the council’s monitoring officer has confirmed that both have been granted an exemption to the six-month attendance rule until May 1, 2025.

Since they are not suspended from their positions, they will continue to receive their allowances.

If a dispensation would not be granted and they lost their seats, a by-election would need to be held for both wards.