LABOUR & CO-OP COUNCILLORS will call on the city’s new Green Council to use the impending Localism Bill to return to the Committee System of decision-making at the council, at a Town Hall meeting this month.

The Committee System was popular among the majority of councillors as it involved both frontbench and backbench members across all parties in making and scrutinising decisions. However, the previous government forced councils to adopt either a Mayoral or Leader-Cabinet system of governance and in 2008, Brighton & Hove chose the latter.

The Labour Group shared concerns with fellow councillors late last year, when a cross-party agreement was struck to pursue a return to a Committee System and consult the public when possible. In the advent of the Localism Bill, which legislates for a return to the Committee System for councils who wish to do so, Labour Co-op are again pushing the council to begin preparations for a return to the previous and more popular structure.

Brighton & Hove Labour & Co-operative Leader, Councillor Gill Mitchell, said:

“The Committee System of running the council was far more popular, fairer and a lot more co-operative than the current Leader-Cabinet System.

“The new system encourages councils to be a lot more political, invests a lot more power in fewer people and sees decision making moved from the bottom-up, to the top-down. That’s why Labour & Co-op Councillors led calls for an agreement to return to the committee system as soon as possible and all parties agreed to pursue this last year.

“Now we find the Localism Bill gives us these powers, Labour & Co-op want to urge the new council again to make the necessary preparations for a return to a fairer, more open and more co-operative system of running the council.”