COTSWOLD District Councillors have clashed over an important position in the council.

A Lib Dem councillor has criticised the decision to elect a conservative councillor as chair of the overview and scrutiny committee.

The overview and scrutiny committee is crucial in overseeing other council departments in order to hold them to account.

Cllr Richard Keeling (Bourton Vale, Con) was elected at Cotswold District Council's annual meeting last Tuesday, additionally Conservatives hold a majority at CDC with 22 seats to the Lib Dems 12.

The scrutiny committee has been chaired by the Lib Dems for the last two years and leader of the party at CDC, Cllr Joe Harris (St Michaels, Lib) is frustrated that an informal agreement was broken.

“We’ve had an informal agreement with the Conservatives since 2016 that the Chairperson of scrutiny committee should be a Liberal Democrat,

“This is a bleak day for local democracy as we now have the Conservatives marking their own homework," said Cllr Harris. "This flies in the face of best practice and democratic principles.

However, council leader Cllr Mark Annett (Campden and Vale) said that he felt extremely disappointed by Cllr Harris's 'tirade'.

"The reaction of Councillor Joe Harris was extremely disappointing," said Cllr Annett. "Particularly given the efforts I've made to engage with him since the time that I became Leader of the Council.

"It was also regrettable that he should launch a tirade against me, in front of members of the public and a number of our Honorary Aldermen, such behaviour has a detrimental impact on the council as a whole.

"That said, I am grateful for the apology that Cllr Harris gave to me after the event.

"Turning to the issue itself, how councils deliver scrutiny is a matter of local discretion and councils across the country operate in a wide range of different ways.

Furthermore, the recent government report into the effectiveness of local government scrutiny states that ‘Chairs from a majority party are just as capable at delivering impartial and effective scrutiny as an opposition councillor’.

Responding to Cllr Harris' accusation that there had been an informal arrangement regarding an opposition chair for the committee, Cllr Annett said that it was not set in stone.

Conservative members were happy to see Lib Dem Cllr Jenny Forde continue as scrutiny chairman, however, when finding out she wasn't going to put herself forward, they decided to put forward their own candidate.

Cllr Annett insists Cllr Harris was notified in advance of the meeting.