HOLDING meetings during the day is saving a council money, a report has said.

Councillors in Denbighshire were asked to respond to a survey about when they think county council business should be carried out.

There had been some criticism from councillors who have full time jobs that having meetings during office hours was putting people off from running for a position on the council.

Instead they wanted to see more evening and weekend meetings that would allow workers and parents of young children to become county councillors.

However, a report on the survey said that the overwhelming majority wanted meetings to continue to be held on week day mornings.

The task and finish group that was set up to examine the issue felt their was scope to change some timings.

The report said: “The group was in favour of starting at least one committee’s meetings at 4pm, though it did not advocate starting meetings any later than that. In respect of venues the previous survey confirmed county hall, Ruthin as the preferred venue for most members, many citing its central location within the county as an advantage.

"The majority of meetings in the current schedule are therefore held in county hall with some use made of the council’s offices at Russell House, Rhyl and Caledfryn, Denbigh. Any venue chosen needs to have appropriate facilities and, as the majority of meetings in the schedule are open to the public, need to be accessible and suitable for public meetings.”

It was also felt that having the meetings during office hours saved money.

Richard Weigh, the chief finance officer, said: “Utilising the meeting rooms in the council’s main offices during ‘office hours’ as at present avoids incurring direct costs associated with external room hire or from keeping council buildings open outside of their normal opening hours.

"The financial impact of changes to the current arrangements would depend on the extent of those changes.”