I read this as code for saying that they would impose an
"Executive" or "Cabinet" type of organisation on the council in
the interests of "efficiency". I have a strong suspicion that
this would be a single-party executive. I base that strong
suspicion not only on the fact that the LD leadership in the
present council campaigned for a directly-elected Mayor and
Cabinet during the referendum that we held recently on the
subject, but also on the fact that, when they had effective
control in the previous council, they put their own members
into every committee chair on the council.
I've mentioned elsewhere how
unsuccessful that was in the case of the housing committee.
Alas, it seems to be an article of faith to take that sort of
control, given the chance.
It's up to you whether or not you choose to give them that chance. Here's why I think it is not a good idea.
West Devon Borough Council has only 31 members. Given the
propensity of political parties to stuff candidate lists with
"paper candidates" , what
do you think the chances are of a single party having enough
members to fill all the (say) 10 or 12 "Executive" or "Cabinet"
seats with councillors of the right quality to manage a
portfolio with executive powers of decision? It may very well
be true to say that decisions made by committees can be slow, but
they do command the respect of all the councillors that you
elect.
Bad decisions made quickly are still bad decisions. I should
prefer to keep the committees, which have a better chance of
making reasonably good decisions most of the time, even if it
takes a little while to make them.
You elect your councillor with the expectation that he or she will have a voice in Council equal to that of all the other councillors. That is not the case in a Cabinet-run council. Only those in the Cabinet have much real say in the decisions of such a council. The rest of the members are relegated to a "scrutiny" role, which effectively means that they are non-effective.
That's another reason why I am determined to stay firmly independent.
If I'm wrong about the coding; if the Lib Dems mean something other than an Executive or Cabinet system by their manifesto statement, I challenge them to email me and say exactly what they do mean. I'll publish their response here. If you get a blank when you click on it, you'll have your answer to my question.
Top |