Letter from Chris Watts (From Swindon Advertiser)

Letter from Chris Watts

8:00am Monday 13th December 2010 in Letters

WHAT happened to democracy in Swindon?

The short answer is that the Swindon Borough Council cabinet system has skewed local democracy to such an extent that a majority of the councillors are not involved in important decisions that affect us all. In the last 12 months, upon reading about the inception of the wifi project and the proposed sale of the Oasis Leisure Centre in the Swindon Advertiser, I contacted many councillors across all parties for further information. These councillors stated that they knew as little as I, and had only heard about these decisions through the local press. These decisions were not debated at full council nor made public at Cabinet meetings. I believe that unilateral decisions are being made behind closed doors by so called “lead members” of the council without right and proper recourse to public scrutiny.

Some may argue that we have a Cabinet system because over-sized committees have proved to be inefficient and impeded the decision making process. Inversely, a councillor with as little as 1,100 ward votes should not have a mandate to dictate their will across a whole borough. With this in mind, I would advocate a system where each lead member is overseen by a small all-party sub-committee. This would ensure that all councillors have a say in how our council is run, transparently and democratically.

The council will be debating the adoption of a “strong leader” form of governance at the next full council meeting on Thursday, December 16. This proposal would enhance the cabinet system and strengthen the council leader position in bestowing a four year term. The proposal is available for public inspection until Thursday, December 16 at the Civic Offices. If you are concerned that our council sits on a fine line between autocracy and democracy, I would urge that you contact your local councillors without delay.

CHRIS WATTS Eastcott Ward Swindon