Richard Baum

Last night’s full Council meeting was used by the ruling Conservative Group to make the most damaging change to democracy in Bury for many years.

Just eight weeks after taking control of the Council for the first time in two decades, and having already removed opposition membership from the Council’s Executive, last night the ruling group voted disgracefully to remove the right of the public to ask verbal questions at Council meetings.

The Tory proposals were part of a raft of measures to “improve the efficiency of Council meetings, “ almost all of which were either damaging to the democratic accountability of the Council, or improvements to process that went nowhere near far enough.

The Conservative Group voted en masse for these proposals, despite one veteran Councillor speaking passionately against them, and several others voting with very heavy hearts indeed. Although the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups spoke and voted against these damaging plans, the Tory majority meant that they passed.

But I was not surprised at the reluctance amongst many in the ruling group to submit to the wishes of the leadership. The plans see the rights of the people we serve seriously curtailed. Where once anyone could come to a Council meeting and ask the Council anything, now questions must be received in writing six days in advance, with no opportunity for a follow-up question.

What kind of message does it send to local people, when we are elected to serve them, and then remove their right to question us with our first act of power? It is a disgrace and the leaders of the Council should be ashamed of themselves. The sun came down on a dark day for democracy in Bury last night, and the Conservative group have done untold damage to the institution of the Council. Where Bury Council was once a leader amongst other Councils in providing access to the people we serve, now it has surrendered its advantage.

At a time when public faith in democracy and elected representatives is so low, this type of action is just beyond understanding. It is also completely unnecessary. In all the Council meetings I have ever been to, there has never been one where public question time has exceeded its allotted time or unduly delayed the meeting. These restrictions can only be politically motivated, to remove the threat of having to deal with tricky issues. Well, to the Leader I say that tricky issues come with the job, and ducking them is simply unacceptable.

Rick