Key Council decisions should be made in public, not behind closed doors

A key Council decision to change the way the Council is organised has been taken behind closed doors. Cllr. David Foster, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Blackburn with Darwen Council has called for it to be made in public to allow proper debate.

He explained, "We have rules within the Council that say that important decisions should only be taken in public either at a full Council Meeting or at the monthly Council Executive Board. This means that decisions the Council is about to make are known in advance, members of the public can comment on it and lobby their representatives and it can then be debated by councillors before a decision is made. While we support the reduction of the number of senior level posts in order to minimise the impact on front line staff, we think there should be a public debate on how this is done. This is an important matter of principle that goes to the heart of democracy. Questions such as

Should we combine the role of Director of Adult Social Care and Children's Services ?

We are not saying we oppose these changes but that these decisions should not be taken by one person, in this case the Leader of the Council, without having to justify them in public and allow debate before the decision is made.