Elected Mayor to face vote of no confidence

Rob Waugh

THE beleaguered elected Mayor of Doncaster is to face a vote of no confidence on the same day a Government watchdog begins an emergency inspection after a catalogue of serious failings at the authority.

The political fallout from the Edlington child torture case and a breakdown in relationships at senior level has prompted opposition councillors to call a vote on the leadership of English Democrat Mayor Peter Davies and his appointed cabinet at a meeting scheduled for February 22.

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A vote against the Mayor cannot force him from office but is being seen as a means of registering a formal protest at what councillors perceive as his failure to get to grips with a raft of problems at the authority.

On the same day, the Audit Commission will begin a special corporate governance inspection into Doncaster Council which could lead to further Government intervention in its management of services.

The Audit Commission has undertaken only one other such inspection nationally in the last five years. It is being carried out “in the light of serious concerns about the Council’s performance in the last two years and the threat to public confidence caused by recent events.”

Whitehall officials are already overseeing children’s services after the deaths of seven children who were known to the council. Failings in the care of vulnerable children also contributed to an overall rating of poor when the Audit Commission carried out a general assessment of the authority last year.

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But the concerns of councillors extend beyond children’s services.

Many remain unhappy about the chaotic appointment of an interim chief executive following the sudden departure of Paul Hart, for personal reasons, last month.

Mayor Davies initially refused to accept a Council vote in favour of Tim Leader for the post, apparently because he favoured another candidate.

As a result, the authority has spent thousands of pounds in legal fees to obtain advice on the appointment procedure only for Mr Leader, the former monitoring officer, to be confirmed as the authority’s most senior officer after another Council vote last week.

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The relationships at the top of the Council are one of the key considerations of the Audit Commission’s inspection.

The Mayor’s plans to cut council tax by three per cent and cut 40m from the Council’s budget in the next four years have also prompted severe criticism, with councillors concerned that failing services need more investment, not less.

Councillor Garth Oxby, leader of the Independent Alliance group which has called the vote, said: “The Mayor thinks he can do exactly what he wants but he can’t. We know he can’t do the job, he has no policies at all.

“We are very worried. Where will Doncaster be in three or four years time if this continues? We shall be in serious trouble.”

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The Mayor has previously denied budget cuts are irresponsible and said they will be good for the people of Doncaster because they will “put money in their pockets.”

Last night, he declined to comment on either the vote of no confidence or the impending inspection.

A Doncaster Council spokeswoman said: “The inspection will commence on Monday 22 February and the Inspectors will spend about a week on site. The findings of this will of course be published in due course, probably about the end of March 2010.”

If the Audit Commission finds the failings are particularly serious, it has the power to refer the Council to the Government to intervene in the running of its services.