9In section 85 of that Act (vacation of office by failure to attend meetings), after subsection (3) there is inserted—
“(3A)Any period during which a member of a local authority is suspended or partially suspended under section 66, 73, 78 or 79 of the Local Government Act 2000 shall be disregarded for the purpose of calculating the period of six consecutive months under subsection (1) above (and, accordingly, a period during which a member fails to attend meetings of the authority that falls immediately before, and another such period that falls immediately after, a period of suspension or partial suspension shall be treated as consecutive).”