Yorkshire loses chance of more powers in the wake of the elected Mayor impasse.

The government announced some delegated powers for the York and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) yesterday but did not go as far as has been offered to Manchester. The government (rightly) says that the decision takers in Leeds – a gang of Labour Council Leaders – are not directly democratically accountable.

Given the appalling mess that some single party dominated Councils (Doncaster, Rotherham etc) have got into, the elected Mayor model is little better, substituting an elected dictator for what should be wide ranging debate and democracy.

The solution is to have a small directly elected Executive for the WYCA. To avoid dominance by one party (unless electors wanted that) seats should be allocated in proportion to the votes cast for each party.

Electors should have a say on which individual candidates they prefer (to avoid the party list monopoly -which is the major failure of the European election system). Costs could be contained by gradually reducing – by around 10% – the number of Councillors elected to other authorities. There should be a power of recall.

There is an opportunity to have a genuinely open system with social media having already shown how increasing numbers of residents can participate in debates about issues.

Mean while locally, the Liberal Democrat Group on City of York Council are calling for a radical overhaul of the way the council takes decisions with a return to a committee system.

Under the council’s current ‘leader and cabinet’ model, decision-making power is concentrated in the hands of just six cabinet members. Under a committee system, the cabinet would be scrapped and policy would instead be made by various cross-party committees with all political groups represented.

A Lib Dem motion on the issue will be debated at next Thursday’s full council meeting. The motion argues that the current system is “not-fit-for-purpose” and a more “open and collaborative” approach is needed.

The potential change was made possible through the Coalition Government’s 2011 Localism Act. Following this, a number of councils including Sutton and Brighton & Hove have moved to a committee-style system.

Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, who will move the motion next week commented:

“At the moment the majority of elected councillors are excluded from the decision-making process with power concentrated in the hands of the leader and cabinet.

“Since 2011, this system has allowed the Labour Cabinet to shut Lendal Bridge, propose closing Castlegate and Yearsley Pool, and bring forward a Local Plan which would bulldoze York’s Green Belt.

“Labour’s decisions have been flawed, but the decision-making process that sits behind them has also been flawed. We need a system where different viewpoints are heard and policy is discussed and challenged fully.

“A committee system would help to ensure that councillors from all parts of the city can contribute. All councillors should be involved in making real decisions on matters that affect their residents and be held accountable for those decisions.

“I hope that councillors can back this principle next week and agree to work in a more open and cross-party way. If passed, work to finalise and implement the new system can then begin after May.”

The Lib Dem call continues their campaign to improve openness at the council. This has seen a commitment from Labour to end behind-closed-doors decision sessions, make information on York’s involvement with external organisations more open, and review the council’s use of ‘confidential’ reports and the process for public consultations.

The following motion will be moved by Cllr Aspden at next Thursday’s meeting (6:50pm at York’s Guildhall):

Committee System

Council Notes:

The 2011 Localism Act gave local authorities new powers over their executive arrangements allowing them to operate a committee system. Subsequently, a number of councils including Sutton, Brighton, Reading, Norfolk and Hartlepool have moved to a committee-style system.

Council Believes:

Since 2011 (under both a majority group rule and no overall control) the Cabinet and leader system has proved that it is not fit-for-purpose.

Regardless of the results of May’s elections, it is in the public interest for different political viewpoints to have an influence on the decision-making process and for decisions to be made in a more open and collaborative way.

All councillors should have the opportunity to be involved in making real decisions on matters that affect their residents and be held accountable for them.

Council Resolves:

To instruct Officers to bring forward proposals to change the Council’s governance arrangements and to implement a return to a committee system after May’s local elections. Under this system executive power will be exercised by a number of committees made up of councillors in proportion to the political balance of the Council.

Further information on the meeting can be found here: http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=331&MId=8984