The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has attacked the Labour Administration for its proposals to radically alter the Council’s constitution to stifle debate in the Council Chamber.
In the proposals to Wednesday’s Annual Council meeting, Labour want to reduce the number of Council meetings in the year at which questions and motions can be tabled by one and to then further reduce the number of questions that members of the opposition parties can ask.
Commenting Cllr Sykes said: “These proposals are not good for local democracy in Oldham.”
“In seeking to reduce the number of opportunities where members of the opposition can question the actions of Labour Cabinet members, the public will be left with the impression that Labour is scared of debate and they will ask why?”
“Perhaps Labour Cabinet members doubt their ability to respond effectively to questions from the floor of the Chamber, or perhaps they have something to hide, but there is no question that given their numbers (45 out of 60) it is always their will as the current majority party that shall prevail.”
“Surely in a vibrant and healthy democracy, we should be encouraging members of the opposition to have their say in the Chamber and they should have the right to expect proper, considered answers to their questions from the Leader and Cabinet members.”
Under the proposals, Cllr Sykes as Main Opposition Leader will see the number of questions that he can ask the Council Leader fall from three to two at each Council, a 33% reduction. Also both the Conservative and UKiP group lose their right to ask a question and theory have to ‘share the right’ to ask one question between them.
“With such a large majority and control of the Council agenda why reduce the amount the current pitiful time allowed to the opposition even further,” stated Cllr Sykes. “This is the sort of action you would expect in one party states like North Korea not in English local government.”
Cllr Sykes added: “This time slot is time well spent. In the past, there has been significant accord on many issues between myself and the Council Leader Cllr McMahon and in recent Councils, I have raised a number of innovative proposals that the Administration is now investigating, such as establishing a Community Shop to help low-income households source high quality food at low prices, alongside help to find employment, to exploring the geothermic power beneath our feet as a renewable energy source.”
“The problem I encounter in the run up to each Council is not finding three good-quality questions to ask the Leader, but making a choice of which three of the many sensible and considered questions I have to hand to take into the Chamber.”
Labour’s other proposal to take other questions on a “politically balanced basis” also do not sit well with Cllr Sykes.
He said: “Labour backbenchers have exclusive access to their own Cabinet members in internal group meetings or in their Cabinet Office. Councillors from other parties have neither. The Council Chamber often still remains the best and only place for opposition members to raise issues that are of concern to their constituents, particularly where previous attempts to engage officers or Cabinet members have met with little or no response.”
“These proposals mean in effect that almost all of the time slot will be monopolised by Labour members with at most one, or perhaps two, questions available to members of the opposition. For the smaller groups on the Council, Conservative (2), UKiP (2) and Independent (1) this means they will be lucky if they ever get to ask a question. Previously ward questions were taken on an alternating basis and this was a sensible arrangement.”
Cllr Sykes stressed that his viewpoint was not just driven by expediency:
“As a Liberal Democrat, I strongly believe that it is important for all democratically elected representatives to have the opportunity to raise issues in the Council Chamber. I feel particularly sorry that the Conservatives and UKIP as minor opposition parties are being even more short-changed by these proposals”.
Cllr Sykes has tabled amendment
s to the proposals to retain the existing arrangements.
If the Lib Dems tried anything like this in Stockport, our Labour group would (rightly) scream blue murder!
In Stockport every single non-Executive councillor can ask up to 4 questions of each exec member. No notice is required and the questions don’t have to be submitted in advance. They can also make comments in top of that. The vast majority of questions are asked by the opposition councillors, which is as it should be – their job is to hold the executive to account.