A FURIOUS war of words has broken out between the leaders of Labour and the Green Party at the Guildhall over how Worcester City Council should be run.
The row broke out after it emerged the Greens and the Conservatives were set to join forces at tonight’s (Tuesday) council meeting for a motion to end the era of the cabinet system of governing.
The current system allows the ruling party to fully control policy decisions at the Guildhall.
But Conservative leader Coun Marc Bayliss was set to propose a return to the committee style system of running the council.
If approved, the new system would involve members of all parties elected to the City Council and bring to an end ‘tribal politics’ at the Guildhall and ‘put the people of Worcester first’ according to Green Party leader Coun Louis Stephen.
The Green Party leader said the current cabinet system hampered long-term planning, as parties focused on elections in three out of the four years, rather than on a future vision for the city.
Coun Stephen said: “I want to see a change in culture. Instead of time-wasting we need to be focusing on the things that matter, such as tackling city centre congestion, looking after the homeless and building a prosperous, high-skill local economy.
“It’s a question of fairness. The Conservatives have 17 councillors and Labour have 16 councillors.
“Bringing both the Conservatives and the Green Party to the table will allow all parties to constructively take part in running the council.
“The alternative is to continue all the time-wasting and negative petty point-scoring that we see in our current system,” he added.
However Labour leader and leader of the City Council, Coun Adrian Gregson, labelled the proposals as a ‘distraction’ and said there was no evidence the changes would work.
He also slammed Coun Stephen and Coun Bayliss for ‘steamrollering’ the proposals through the council meeting.
“Their reasoning for a change is not evidenced and nor is their solution,” he said.
“I would prefer that all councillors understand and agree how we address shortcomings in the current system instead of two men steamrollering something through council.
“I have tried to discuss step change and alternative arrangements including multi party cabinets, but they are entrenched and acting against officer advice.
“Labour has an amendment to defer a decision to February to allow proper consideration of proposals including the very important one of cost to the council taxpayer,” Coun Gregson added.
