GREENWICH: Local government changes style

A CONTROVERSIAL new system of government will kick off in Greenwich Council when it holds first cabinet meeting, next Wednesday (December 12).

The cabinet will be made up of a leader, two deputies and seven other councillors, who will be responsible for a specific area of work including lifelong learning and neighbourhood renewal and housing.

It will streamline the day-to-day decision-making process but key policy and major budget judgements need to be agreed by the full council.

Council leader Councillor Chris Roberts said: "The new system should make it clearer who's taking the decisions and why.

"People's lives are often affected by the decisions we take, so it is important they have a chance to see us taking them and hear what's behind them."

The cabinet will be monitored by the overview and scrutiny committee, which will reflect the political balance of the council which has 52 Labour, eight Conservative and two Liberal Democrat councillors.

Leader of the Conservative group Councillor Peter King said: "Effectively the power, not only of the Conservatives, but all councillors who are not actually members of the cabinet, has been reduced.

"The Government wants single people to be responsible for decisions, not committees, because they can more easily bully individual people into making the decisions they want."

Sweeping changes bringing in a leader and cabinet were enshrined in a new council constitution, on Wednesday, November 28. The changes are a direct result of the Local Government Act 2000, which requires councils to change the way they run, by next year.

December 5, 2001 02:30