The consultation no-one wanted

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WARRINGTON Borough Council says there were no comments from the public when it carried out a six week consultation on its future executive arrangements.
Hardly surprising, really. It is not one the most riveting of topics.
But, although it is something we think they sometimes forget, members of the council – particularly back-bench members – are also members of the public. So presumably none of them had any comments to make either.
Of course, there were only two options to choose from.
1. The council would have a leader and cabinet, with the leader appointed for a four-year period.
2. The council would have a directly elected mayor and cabinet, with the mayor serving for four years.
Over the years since the first Blair Government carried out what they described as “modernisation” of local government, we have spoken to many back-bench councillors, including Labour councillors, who look back with considerable affection on the old committee-system of local government. A frequently expressed complaint is that, even as councillors, they now don’t know what the council is doing. In the pre-“modernisation” days they DID know – even when in opposition.
We can’t help wondering that if there had been a third option – that of returning to the committee system, or something similar to it – there might have been more interest shown.


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

1 Comment

  1. Yes, indeed. A return to the Committee structure is long overdue. Councillors forget that they have a community to serve. This “modern” cabinet system is far too autocratic. I suppose we do live in a Democracy where the comments of individual members of the community are supposed to be important. If the Council undertook further consultation given us third option they might just get more reaction.

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