Outrage as Labour backtracks on pledge to hand scrutiny posts to opposition parties
BIRMINGHAM’S Labour leadership has been accused of backtracking on a promise to share influential watchdog committee jobs with opposition parties.
Just days after securing control of the City Council in the local election, the Birmingham Labour group revealed that all eight scrutiny committee chairmen would be Labour councillors, each paid a £12,500 per year allowance.
It was a move described ‘outrageous’ by rivals.
But in March the council as a whole backed reform of the weak watchdog committees which was aimed at increasing their ability to challenge the council leadership.
This included not only increasing the number of com- as mittees from five to eight but also appointing a number of chairmen from rival Conservative and Lib Dem parties based on the number of seats they have on the council.
It would mean five of the jobs would go to Labour, two to the Tories and one to a Liberal Democrat.
House of Commons select committees, which carry out a similar function, are organised in the same way – so experienced Labour MPs like Hilary Benn and Yvette Cooper chair committees and hold Conservative Government account. Lib Dem group leader Jon Hunt (Perry Barr) said: “It is outrageous to publicly vote for this in March and then vote the other way during their private meeting.” Conservative Robert Alden (Erdington) added: “It is disappointing, but sadly not surprising that the Labour administration made it just a week before breaking their first pre-election promise. This was a decision taken at the March meeting to improve the way the council works and work the way other ministers to councils do. How can Labour be trusted in future?”
But Labour leader Ian Ward (Shard End) defended the move saying that the March report carried a series of recommendations, not firm commitments.
He said: “It made a suggestion and left it to the ruling group to decide. I have promised to write to the scrutiny committee to explain why not.”
He explained Labour councillors were presented with three options: share the chairmen with other parties as suggested, keep all the chairs as before, or keep the chairs but give all of the vice-chairs to opposition parties. They chose the third option.
“The Labour group is democracy, it is not for me to dictate,” he added.