Bromsgrove council to adopt new 'hybrid' governance model

Changes include amending the constitution to require key committees to be chaired by members of opposition parties and more opportunities for ‘back bench’ councillors to participate in decision-making processes.

The move comes after recommendations from an Overview and Scrutiny task group report into the council’s governance options, which councillors voted to launch after no single party won a majority of seats in the May elections.

The recommendations were considered at the 'Extraordinary Meeting' of the full council on September 20, having been passed through the cabinet last week.

Conservatives, Labour and Independents on the council voted in favour of the change. However, the town's Liberal Democrats voted against the change, warning that it would mean the Conservatives would stay "in power" despite not having a majority on the council.

Bromsgrove District Council currently uses a ‘leader and cabinet’ style system which means the leader of the council makes most of the day-to-day decisions whilst the full council retains the final vote on matters including the budget and overall policy.

The new ‘hybrid leader and cabinet’ model adds part of the committee system to that process whilst not requiring major changes to the council’s core governance model and constitution.

Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board Peter McDonald said: "This will mean in future the controlling group will no longer have the option to scrutinises their own decisions, in other words, investigate themselves. The Chairmen of both major committees, Overview and Scrutiny and Audit, Governance and Standards, will be from the opposition. This will ensure that all investigations will be open and transparent.

"It is a landmark, because it’s the first time that the major opposition party and the party in control have come to an agreement that gives the opposition councillors the freedom to investigate the actions of those in control".