By Isle of Wight Observer
Democracy. A concept some politicians struggle with. Particularly those who hold power or those who expect to gain power. See the debates about proportional representation for the Westminster parliament and the rationale for the so-called ‘East Wight Primary’.
And locally, just three weeks ago. we had the leader of the IW Council announce in this newspaper (March 1) that the recent, successful Conservative Budget amendment – supported by a majority of the Council (though not me) – “does not bind the hands of the administration”.
Islanders may ask, “how can he do this with just one-third of the IW Council under his control?” He can do it because the IW Council still operates a cabinet system of governance, which is based on one council vote for a leader after every election, resignation or removal. Just about all decision-making then accrues to the leader’s appointed cabinet. Currently that’s just eight of the 13 Alliance and Green party councillors. Remember there are 39 IW Councillors.
This system of council governance was forced on local authorities by the Blair government in 2001. And even though I was a Labour member then, many party members including me, had real concerns at this being bounced onto local authorities. Such executive-style governance is only really suitable for governments with hundreds of MPs and usually a majority in Parliament.
I have been a member of the IW Council since 2005 and have witnessed from the opposition side of the chamber for all but one year, the effective dictatorship of one group or another, usually with a majority. And the marginalisation of the rest of the councillors. All of whom have an electoral mandate. But the council elected in 2021 has no majority, which many politicians expect to be repeated in 2025.
Because of my experiences, before I retire next year after 20 years, I have initiated the process by which the IW Council can now legally revert to the committee-style system of governance that operated in local authorities for a century and more before 2001.
Despite delaying tactics by the ruling minority administration last May, I eventually secured unanimous support to look at change last July. During the autumn a cross-party working group, led by me, subsequently resolved to recommend a change to the committee system from the annual council meeting in May this year.
The committee-system we recommend is for five service committees instead of just one cabinet, dealing with policy and finance, children’s services, adult care, health and housing, economy and transport and environment and community protection. They will consist of councillors drawn from across the IW Council and will have full decision-making powers. There will still be the existing committees such as planning, licensing and audit. We are very clear that change should come at zero extra cost after this year’s annual council.
The working group and staff have been working at pace to deliver the change this May and subject to continuing approval by full council on Wednesday, March 20 we will then move fully into the public consultation stage. Yes, this is quite an arcane subject, but there will be those who are interested and we will listen to their views. There will be a public briefing next month, briefings for town, community and parish councillors and there is an email address – future.governance@iow.gov.uk – where we will welcome contributions up until mid-April. After that an extraordinary full council meeting on May 1 will make the legal decision whether to change or not. And then whether it should be from this May 15, annual council or May 2025.
This is about improving democracy for the Island’s main council.
