Brent Council and the Committee System

One of the motions put forward by the Liberal Democrats at the last Council advocated a return to the
Committee system, as being more democratic than the current "Executive" arrangements.

I remember when the Executive system was introduced, the then Council Leader Paul Daisley told me that Committees really worked by himself as Leader having a series of bilateral meeting with each Committee Chair, who then delivered the Committee. So, certainly he seemed to think the old system was less democratic and transparent than many of its nostaglic advocates now claim. 

I can also see a number of other potential problems.  Firstly, given the way that decisions are now picked over, there might be greater scope for legal action.  Procurement rules now allow companies to sue Councils over quite technical infractions of procedure for large sums.  I have also seen lawyers try to pick out single sentences or brief quotes in order to overturn decisions.  I suspect the Committee system would have far greater scope for this than in the less technical times when it used to operate.

I can also see problems with unpredictability, as committees depend on who turns up and how they vote.  In terms of awarding contracts, that might lead to local authorities having to pay a "risk premium".  It might also create difficulties in the partnership working we are all so keen on. 

Finally, the old Committee system did not allow for the Scrutiny function. I think this is the big advantage of the new system, albeit one that Brent has failed to exploit fully.  It allows the Council to do high quality work on important issues _ like the recent report on youth and preventing offending _ in its own operations.  However, it also allows us to question outside bodies that spend public money in Brent, like the NHS, the rail companies or the Police.  That has huge scope to improve public services, if it is taken seriously.