Opposition councillors in Greenwich have failed to secure proportional representation in the chairs of scrutiny panels, despite a concerted effort during the council's annual meeting. A proposal aimed to appoint opposition chairs to scrutiny panels proportionally, with Councillor Tamasin Rhymes arguing that Greenwich is an outlier in not having such a system, which would create balance.
The composition of scrutiny panels is governed by the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, which mandate political balance. The meeting summary states, The allocation of seats to political groups on these committees was agreed in accordance with political balance rules.
Additionally, the report on the establishment of Member-level bodies mentions that political proportionality rules
are followed, and the ready reckoner
in Appendix A of that report details how seat allocations are made based on the relative strength of political groups on the Council, aiming for proportionality as closely as practicable.
The current political balance of the council is Labour Group - 35 Members (63.64%), Green Group - 13 Members (23.64%), and Conservative Group - 6 Members (10.91%). For example, the Children & Young People Scrutiny Panel has 8 members with a proposed allocation of 5 Labour, 2 Green, and 1 Conservative. The ready reckoner
in the same appendix also shows the proportional breakdown for various committee sizes.
A proposal put forward by Councillor Rhymes and seconded by Councillor Stewart Christie aimed to appoint opposition chairs to scrutiny panels proportionally. Councillor Rhymes argued that this move would create balance and that Greenwich is an outlier in not having proportional chairs. Councillor Hartley further elaborated, stating that something like one in four councils are doing what Greenwich does, which is have majority chairs on all committees,
implying that Greenwich's approach is not the norm. The opposition's argument implies that a lack of proportional representation for opposition chairs could lead to a less effective or less balanced scrutiny process. Councillor Hartley also stated that the amendment would have saved £17,000 a year for the council taxpayer too, because of the way the allowances work.
However, Councillor Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Council, opposed the amendment. He stated that every single member of this council will sit on a scrutiny panel and have the opportunity to either visit any scrutiny panel and participate.
He also argued that the amendment goes against what is set out in terms of proportionality, and obviously proportionality is set out in law, and we are nominating accordingly to that.
He further emphasized that the Labour group had won a majority on the council and that residents had voted for them to make Greenwich the place to be.
He also pointed out that the challenge of change in Greenwich and the challenge of change in the council doesn't exist by only occupying the role of a chair. Every single member will have the opportunity to shape the scrutiny agenda and participate in that process in holding the exec accountable.
A further verbal amendment proposed by Councillor Stewart Christie and seconded by Councillor Matt Hartley, to add one member to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to ensure political balance, was also debated and not carried. Councillor Christie proposed a further amendment to ensure proportional balance is on everything
and specifically highlighted that on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, there was only one position for the Green Party and one position for the Conservative group,
which he stated does not follow the principles of political balance.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee
is responsible for co-ordinating and overseeing all overview and scrutiny functions on behalf of the Council
and monitoring and keeping under review upcoming key decisions and forthcoming Cabinet business.
The Scrutiny Panels
are tasked with scrutinising in relation to functions assigned to the Panel issues relating to: Performance Management, Value for Money, Holding the Executive to account, External bodies, Tackling inequality.
Further details on the establishment of member-level bodies can be found in the Public reports pack.
Supplementary Agenda and Agenda frontsheet documents were also available for the meeting.
