Chosen few could run the council (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Chosen few could run the council

DECISIONS affecting your everyday life could soon be made by just a handful of councillors.

Just four months after taking control of Cotswold District Council, the Conservatives are planning to introduce a cabinet style system.

All 44 elected members of the authority are currently able to cast the final vote on issues ranging from council tax to waste collections. But, under the new proposals, a cabinet of between just three and 10 councillors would be appointed to make the decisions.

And opposition members fear this would enable them to approve or throw out controversial schemes based on their own political agenda.

Council leader Julie Girling says the move will speed up the way the council operates and "cut down on bureaucracy".

But Independents and Liberal Democrats have accused the Tories of being arrogant and have slammed the proposals.

Liberal Democrat leader Deryck Nash, who only found out about the plans when he was told by the Standard, added: "Obviously the Conservatives believe they have the mandate to do what they like and are intent upon doing just that. "It's a pity that they did not have the courtesy to include throwing away 30 years of Cotswold tradition in their manifesto."

Independent Group leader Christine Eatwell, who was also in the dark, added: "I'm shocked and upset they could do this before actually speaking to other council members. I thought it would have been courtesy to discuss it."

The cabinet proposal will go out to public consultation, although a final decision will fall to the Deputy Prime Minister.

If approved, the system will replace the council's existing executive, community and economy and environment committees.

Remaining committees would still reflect the political make-up of the council but the cabinet could be made up entirely of Tory Group members.

A new constitution (the rules governing the way the council operates) would have to be drawn up and the cabinet could either be chosen by the full council or appointed by the leader.

Individual cabinet members could then be given responsibility or portfolios for specific areas of council work and the power to make executive decisions.

The full council would continue to meet at "regular intervals" but would no longer have the final say.

Cllr Girling says she has asked officers to prepare a report on the proposal for consideration on October 21.

The Tories hope to have the new system up and running, starting in May next year.

Cllr Girling said: "I welcome this move towards a cabinet system. I believe it is important the electorate knows exactly who makes the decisions and has a clear idea of who to lobby if they need to. I support any move that will cut down on waste and bureaucracy."

The cabinet plan is the latest controversy surrounding the way the Tory Group is running CDC.

The Conservatives became the first ever political party to take control of the authority after the May elections but immediately angered opposition colleagues by changing the constitution to allow one of their own to take up an important post.

The move enabled Tory executive committee member Carole Topple to also become chairman of the planning (regulatory) committee.

Former council chairman Sue Herdman, who stands as an Independent but is a self-confessed Tory, said she was so incensed at the "attitude" of the CDC controlling group, she renounced her party membership.

More recently, plans to pull out of the Cirencester Traffic and Environment Plan (CTEP) and leaked proposals in relation to the planned new Cirencester leisure centre, have also been met with an angry response.

* Next week the Standard takes a closer look at cabinet style local government.