The town hall will now operate a cabinet system of governance instead of operating through committees, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Hendon Town Hall and (inset) council leader Barry Rawlings

Sweeping changes to the way Barnet Council is run have been waved through by the Labour group despite Conservative opposition.

Members of the Labour administration approved the switch to a cabinet system they claim will make decision-making more efficient and transparent – as the Tories warned it will undermine scrutiny and stifle debate.

Under the current system, decisions are taken by committees containing members from both political groups on the council – selected in proportion to the overall number of seats their groups hold – following a discussion of the issues.

But the changes, which were agreed during an extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday (2nd), will hand decision-making powers to the leader and a cabinet made up of members of the ruling group. Separate scrutiny committees, containing members from both groups, will be set up to hold the executive to account.

Some committees – including planning, licensing and audit – will be retained, and are largely unaffected by the changes.

Council leader Barry Rawlings told Tuesday’s meeting the shake-up would lead to “transparency, efficiency, [and] effectiveness”. He added: “A committee system can work for an insipid council wanting to retain the status quo and just potter along. But to be transformative, to enable change, [it] needs a different system.”

Cllr Rawlings said committees met rarely and often delegated decisions – which he claimed were made in advance of the meeting and “whipped” to ensure members took the group line – to the chair and officers. The new system would operate differently, he added, meaning policies would come from “consensus”.

The council leader said monthly cabinet meetings would lead to “quicker decision-making in the public arena, subject to scrutiny”.

But Conservative group leader Dan Thomas claimed that under the new system most decisions would be subject to scrutiny before and after the cabinet meeting – and could be referred back to cabinet, meaning there would be “four meetings to see a decision through, likely to be over several weeks”.

He added: “The benefit of a committee system is that a decision is debated once on one evening by a cross-party committee, which will have the opportunity to scrutinise the implementation further down the line – so a committee system is far quicker in the long run, and more efficient.”

Cllr Thomas criticised plans to scrap committees dedicated solely to housing and the environment, claiming the motivation for the changes was “reducing debate”.

His Conservative colleague Mark Shooter said the extraordinary council meeting was the “last chance to save Barnet democracy and proper scrutiny”.

Cllr Shooter added: “I helped change to the committee system […] and it has worked beautifully in Barnet over many years. All members fully engage. Why change a system that ain’t broke?”

Pointing out that the majority of administration members would not be part of the cabinet, he claimed they were effectively putting themselves out of a job and compared them to “turkeys voting for Christmas”.

Labour’s Nigel Young said the cabinet system “works well for London”, where it is used by most borough councils – including the majority of those under Conservative control.

He added: “It’s obvious why: a cabinet system allows efficient decision-making by the leader and cabinet, which can then be scrutinised by councillors from across the chamber.”

Cllr Young said the cabinet system would enable “a clear direction to be set for the council”, which would support the Labour group’s “transformation agenda” and “deliver a better Barnet for our residents”.

Following the debate, the Conservatives voted against the changes – but they were approved when members of the Labour group voted in favour. The new system will come into effect during the annual council meeting on 23rd May.

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