A Reform UK Powys County Councillor has received an apology after it was found that he had attended more than the expected 60 per cent of meetings last year.

At a meeting on Monday, October 13, the council’s Standards committee received an updated report on councillors’ attendance at meetings.

Back in June, councillors and Independent lay members on the committee were told that three councillors had failed to meet the 60 per cent attendance meeting threshold between May 16, 2024, and May 14, 2025.

This covers the cycle of committee meetings for the 2024/2025 civic year.

At that meeting members received and accepted a written explanation from Cllr Josie Ewing (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod South) on why she had not met the expected attendance figure.

But Cllrs Karl Lewis (Reform UK – Llandinam with Dolfor) and Sarah Williams (Labour – Abercraf and Ystradgynlais) had not responded with their own explanations.

The data at the time showed that former Planning committee Chairman Cllr Lewis, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK earlier this year, had attended 59 per cent of the meetings he was supposed to.

Cllr Williams had only been to 40 per cent of the meetings she had been expected to attend.

Standards committee members had agreed that the pair needed to appear in front of them to explain themselves.

Since that meeting errors have been found in the attendance record for Cllr Lewis.

After adjustments were made, his attendance record had gone up to 63 per cent – but he still appeared at the meeting to explain himself.

Cllr Lewis told members that he had an attendance record “way over” 80 per cent since 2017 and claimed that during that period he was the councillor attending the highest number of committee meetings.

Cllr Lewis said: “From the end of October last year to mid-March I was suffering from quite severe ill health.

“Some of the county councillors that are quite close to me know about this.

“I take my role very seriously, it is a vocation, and I can only apologise for not addressing you as I should have done.”

Cllr Lewis continued: “I’ve apologised for my end of the deal, but does the committee feel that they owe me an apology?”

Standards committee Chairman and Independent lay member Stephan Hays responded: “There were some errors in the record that the council had, and we sincerely apologise for that.

“It has been corrected, and we are happy to accept the 63 per cent attendance record now.”

Mr Hays added that he and committee Vice-Chairwoman and Independent lay member Claire Moore had seen the letter from Cllr Sarah Williams outlining her reasons for failing to meet the 60 per cent attendance threshold last year.

Mr Hays said: “We are satisfied with the explanation and expect improvement this year.”

Powys Independents joint group leader Cllr Beverley Baynham (Presteigne) believed that the Standards committee should look at anomalies in how the attendance of councillors is recorded.

She explained that one councillor could have a 100 per cent record by attending just eight meetings a year – while others might not hit the mark despite attending “60 to 80” meetings a year.

Cllr Baynham said: “I’m not sure what the answer is but I think it’s something the committee should bear in mind in the future.”

The committee noted the report.