Crunch council meeting behind closed doors
ACRUNCH meeting to decide who will run Stockport council for the next 12 months is to be held behind closed doors.
Members of the press and public will be barred from the ‘informal council’ meeting scheduled to go ahead on Thursday evening.
It comes amid a continuing power struggle between Labour and the Lib Dems following an election which again left the town hall under ‘no overall control’.
The Lib Dems say that, as they are now the largest party, Labour should step aside - as they did in 2016, after their leader Sue Derbyshire lost her seat.
But Labour’s Coun Elise Wilson says if the Lib Dems want to remove her, they will need to do so with support from the other groups on the council, including the Tories and independent ratepayers.
The decision to hold the informal council meeting in private has been slammed as ‘outrageous’ by Lib Dem leader, Coun Mark Hunter - but defended by Labour leader, Coun Elise Wilson, who said it was ‘how the council constitution was meant to function’.
Given the fundamental nature of the decision, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked Stockport council to explain why it believes it is justified and democratic to hold the meeting in private.
In response, a spokesperson said: “Formal decisions about the council’s political leadership for the coming year will be taken at the Annual Council meeting on 25 May 2021.
“This meeting will be webcast live and will also be available to view on the council’s website after the meeting has taken place.”
The informal council meeting is always pencilled in but has not taken place since 2006, as the various parties have since agreed on arrangements for the coming municipal year.
Although these agreements are officially signed off at the official annual council meeting, in reality it is a ceremonial occasion where the new mayor is sworn in amid the traditional pomp and circumstance.
To ensure this is not spoilt by any lingering political acrimony, the informal council meeting ensures this is thrashed out the week before.
This is spelt out in the council’s constitution, which adds that its decisions will then be ratified at the annual council meeting ‘without debate’.
It means that, in effect, the decision on who runs the council will not be taken in public or covered in real time by the media.
With Labour and the Lib Dems locked in a post-election battle for the keys to the town hall, the two group leaders also have differing views on whether the informal council meeting should be held behind closed doors
Coun Hunter has written to chief executive Pam Smith urging her to open the meeting to the public.
“I think it’s outrageous,” said Coun Hunter.
“I have already written to the chief executive and [copied in the] four group leaders inviting them to agree with me that, for a decision as important as this, I would hope we would all agree it’s essential the debate is heard in front of the press and public.
“I think people will struggle to understand why a decision as important as this - the future of Stockport council and who is going to be running it for the next 12 months at least - should be taken behind closed doors.
“What have they got to hide?”
However, Coun Wilson says this is exactly how the constitution is meant to function in the event of a political impasse.
She said: “Coun Hunter has been a councillor or an MP for several decades now and he is well aware of the council’s constitution.
“An informal council meeting is set up by the chief executive of the council to resolve possible disagreements.
“This process is well known and understood.
We recently undertook a cross party review of the constitution and the Liberal Democrats voted for the these arrangements at the full council meeting on July 9, 2020.
“The Liberal Democrats had the opportunity to raise this issue at that time and choose not to. Suddenly calling for changes to this process the Friday before the meeting is dubious at best.”
The informal council meeting is due to take place virtually - via Microsoft Teams - which would not be allowed for a ‘formal’ meeting, which, by law, must now be held ‘in person’.
The informal meeting of Stockport council will take place on Thursday, May 20 at 6pm.