The way decisions are made on the Isle of Wight Council will remain the same — for at least another year — after a move some have dubbed ‘undemocratic’.
At a meeting this Wednesday, councillors were set to decide whether they supported, in principle, moving to a committee system, which would allow more members across all parties to be involved with decision-making.
The authority currently operates under a leader and cabinet model, where a few councillors from the same group make serious decisions.
However, the vote has been taken off the agenda and only an update has been provided instead.
Cllr Geoff Brodie who proposed the idea of a move back in July and was unanimously supported by councillors, said he was ‘flabbergasted’ when he saw it had been removed, by Cllr Claire Critchison, the chair of the council.
Speaking at a meeting last week, Cllr Brodie said the decision was anti-democratic and goes against the democratic will of council.
He said it now has to be put back a year, as it cannot be decided with enough time to start in May — meaning it may be back on the table in January 2025, with the potential to start from May 2025.
In a statement, Cllr Critichision said she had made the decision not to include the vote, at this time, based on advice presented to her that a paper on the matter, prepared by a group of councillors, was not adequate for even an ‘in principle’ decision.
Cllr Critchison said: “In light of the advice and the potential risk of the council making an unlawful decision, with the consequences that would necessarily follow, I decided the paper should not appear on the full council agenda but it was appropriate for the matter to be listed for an update.”
Cllr Phil Jordan, leader of the council, said the authority’s monitoring officer deemed the report to not be complete, as it “has not complied with impact assessments or proper consultations, nor has sufficient information or budgetary cost implications” which are necessary for it to be voted on.
He said: “If it were voted upon, the monitoring officer stated he would be forced to issue a notice, advising the decision voted upon was illegal.”
Cllr Clare Mosdell, leader of the Conservative Group, said it would have been a “very simple vote”, finding the “majority voice” on whether councillors agreed on it or not.
She said officers would then put together a report on how that would be done with other details and a final decision made later in the year.
Cllr Mosdell said that “choice has been taken away” from councillors and “that cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be democratic.”
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