BROMSGROVE will consider whether to adopt a new ‘hybrid’ model of governance for the district at tomorrow’s (Wednesday, September 20) extraordinary full council meeting.
The proposals would see the authority’s Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and Overview and Scrutiny Board chairmen be required to be elected from members of the opposition.
New ‘Cabinet Advisory Panels’ would also be able to make recommendations to the council’s elected Leader and Cabinet and bring more councillors into the executive decision-making process.
The plans aim to increase political consensus at the District Council.
Councillors voted to launch an Overview and Scrutiny task group report into the council’s governance options after no single party won an overall majority of seats at the May elections.
Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, Coun Peter McDonald, said: “Our thanks to everyone who contributed to the work of the task group as it studied governance systems in detail this summer.
“The final report has recommended a hybrid Leader and Cabinet model for the council to consider, to provide for more input from members of opposition parties and in open and transparent ways.”
Councils must choose from a spectrum of governance models that each provide a greater or lesser degree of political consensus in decision-making.
Bromsgrove currently operates under a ‘Leader and Cabinet’ system of governance.
This means an elected Cabinet led by the Council Leader, which is currently Conservative Coun Karen May, makes most of the council’s day-to-day decisions.
The full council retains the final vote on matters like budgets and overall policy.
The new proposed ‘hybrid Leader and Cabinet’ model adds elements of the Committee system to that process while not requiring major changes to the council’s core governance model and constitution.
The town’s Liberal Democrats warned if the recommendations were approved, there would be a missed opportunity and the Conservatives would continue to lead the council, despite not having a majority.
They criticised other parties which had showed support for a move to a committee system where ‘power would be shared more equally’.
The Lib Dems said they tried to amend the report at the Scrutiny Committee on September 11 and have indicated they will be doing the same at the full council meeting.
Bromsgrove Liberal Democrat Group Leader Coun Rob Hunter said: “Regrettably it seems although the task group was set up in good faith it has disappointingly descended into a sham.”
The local party’s deputy leader Coun Siobhan Robinson, added: “It’s not just about respecting the will of voters.
“The recent independent Peer Review called for governance improvements to help address the financial difficulties in Bromsgrove.
“Thankfully we’re not in the same place as Birmingham City Council, but it shows what can happen when governance becomes stale.”
