Cheshire East Labour Group welcomes historic changes to Council governance

At an extraordinary virtual meeting of all Cheshire East’s 81 councillors yesterday it was agreed to drop the ‘Strong Leader & Cabinet’ method of running the council, and to replace it with a more traditional committee system.

During its troubled first decade of existence, the Strong Leader & Cabinet system was adopted by the Conservatives. However, after a succession of crises and incidents, including several criminal investigations, they were ejected from power in May 2019.  Widespread disaffection about the way the council was run was a major factor on the doorsteps, and led to them losing seats to Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat candidates and then losing power.

Since May 2019, the joint Labour/Independent administration has committed itself to overhauling the system.

The new system will now come into operation from May 2021, and is expected to be delivered at around the same cost as the old one, but with greater transparency and a stronger role for local councillors in key decisions.

Speaking after the meeting, Sam Corcoran, Labour Leader of Cheshire East Council, commented “In May 2019 in my speech after I had been elected Leader of Cheshire East Council I said that I wanted to disprove the saying ‘Power is never given away – it has to be taken’.  I intended giving power away and today I delivered on that by voting to reduce the power of the Leader of Cheshire East Council. Sadly the Conservatives responded with party political point scoring and false personal attacks. They seem to have learnt nothing from their electoral defeat in May 2019.”

Steve Hogben, Labour Vice-Chairman of the Constitution Committee, said “Over the past eighteen months the cross-party Constitution Committee has worked hard to develop proposals for the new way of working.  From May 2021 instead of ten executive councillors taking key decisions, all members of the council will have that responsibility and be answerable to the people of the borough.  This is more democratic, draws on the knowledge and skills of a wider range of elected members, and will produce better decisions. In the end this is all about power for the people.”

Speech to meeting of Cheshire East Council by Cllr Sam Corcoran, Leader of Cheshire East Council

In May 2019 in my speech after I had been elected Leader of Cheshire East Council I said I wanted to disprove the saying ‘Power is never given away – it has to be taken’ I intended giving power away and today I deliver on that by voting to reduce the power of the Leader of Cheshire East Council.

But I do want everyone to go into this with their eyes open. No system is perfect. I’ve seen the Cabinet system abused and used to exclude councillors from discussions. I’ve also seen the Cabinet system work well and although I am now advocating a committee system I would praise the Cabinet that has worked well over the last 18 months. Many people have commented on the way it doesn’t feel like a joint administration – and the way the Cabinet have discussed issues, modified views and reached a conclusion amicably. I would like to thank all those who have served as Cabinet Members and Deputy Cabinet Members since May 2019.

The main benefit I see from the Committee System is that more councillors will be involved in decision making, but that is a double-edged sword. It will increase the workload for many councillors. ALL members of committees will need to prepare for meetings and that doesn’t just mean turning up to the meeting having read the papers – although that is important. It also means planning ahead, working with the chair to let them know which issues will be controversial and what modifications you would like to see, well before the meeting takes place.

There is also the impact on officers to consider - anything new takes time to adjust to and this will, at least in the short term, add to the pressures on officers – officers who, as it says in para 14.1, are already stretched and showing signs of fatigue.

So please bear in mind what it says in 15.1 that ‘it will be crucial to ensure that the commitment to a positive workplace culture is maintained and is supportive and conducive to decision making in an uncertain environment’

We are facing several significant challenges at the moment

Covid-19   Brexit on 1 January   Significant financial challenges

The Committee System is an added complication and is the only one that is under our control.

Paragraph 12.1 on page 13 states that ‘The timing of the proposed change presents a strategic risk’.

On the other hand – we have already postponed once from May 2020

It was kind of Cllr Clowes to quote me from 2018 making the point that both the Cabinet & Committee system can be mis-used. I am now pleased to be  The Joint administration has proved that the Strong Leader and Cabinet system can work well. Over the last few months I have been agonising over whether the Committee System will work as well (as the joint administration has made the Cabinet system work). Last night I had a revelation – it’s not up to me to make the committee system work. That’s the whole point of giving away power. It won’t be up to me – it will be up to us to make the committee system work. So I will watch with interest to see who votes for these proposals – and thereby commits to taking responsibility to make the new committee system work. I look forward to working with you in the new committee system.