Labour councillors calling for cost-saving cabinet shake-up

Scarborough Borough Council’s Labour group is set to propose a motion that the cabinet is scaled back, reflecting the reduced number of chief officers and staff now employed by the council since it was forced to make swingeing cuts in an effort to counter a reduction in Government funding.

Labour councillors want to see the cabinet, led by Coun Tom Fox, reduced from nine members to six, which they claim would save at least £11,500 in councillors’ allowances.

Coun Colin Challen, deputy leader of the Labour group, said: “It is time for the leader of the council to cut the size of his cabinet so it is more in line with the management of the council. I suspect that it is the size it is because it has a useful patronage function, but with so many staff gone, councillors have to look at their own bureaucracy too.”

The group wants the savings that are made as a result of the cabinet shake-up to be ploughed into developing the council’s scrutiny function.

Coun Challen said: “It is going to become more important as the council takes on more responsibilities looking at policing and public health, for example. The introduction of the Localism Act means more responsibilities may be devolved to local authorities.

“In these circumstances it is very important that councils have the confidence that its back-bench councillors can properly carry out the scrutiny function. I think at the moment we have some very good scrutiny officers in Scarborough, but it’s clearly a system that needs strengthening. We would like to look at ways of doing that and this will be the first.”

Demanding a reform, Coun Challen said there was “no way” the current cabinet could be kept and accused members of not having anything to say at full council meetings.

“It has to be said some cabinet members come to a full council meeting and never have anything to say. They just present a report written by officers and that’s about it. It is clear that some of these functions could be rolled into one,” he added.

Coun Fox was unavailable for comment.