The Greens have accused Labour of ducking scrutiny by grabbing an unfair share of seats on council committees in a proposal published this afternoon (Thursday 22 May).
Labour deny this – and the allocation is expected to be voted through as usual at a meeting known as “annual council” which is due to take place at Hove Town Hall today.
The fair sharing of seats is a legal requirement under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
But, legal requirement or not, the leader of the opposition, Green councillor Steve Davis, said that local democracy should properly reflect the views of the people.
He called on the party – its cabinet and councillors – to recognise that the proposal was wrong and to do the right thing.
A report to the meeting of the annual council said that Labour had 36 of the 54 seats on the council – or two thirds.
There are 63 committee seats to share out – and at least three of the committees are expected to hold the council and its administration to account.
Labour will have 43 of the 63 seats but the Greens said that the party’s share should mean that it has 42, with the remaining seats divided up among opposition councillors.
The party said that, based on percentages, Labour should have exactly 42 seats and the Greens should have 9.33 seats.
Instead of giving the spare seat to the Greens or another opposition party, such as the Conservatives, Labour has taken it, distorting and enlarging its share.
Councillor Davis said: “It is within the Labour administration’s gift to ensure that the council’s committees are more representative of Brighton and Hove’s people – their councillors simply need to vote for it.
“The fact that they are choosing to use their outsized majority to keep opposition members off scrutiny committees is shameful.”
Labour would retain a clear majority on every committee, the Greens said, but were showing an unwillingness to hear other points of view.
The Greens also criticised Labour for putting forward its own councillors to chair the scrutiny committees, with only the Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee chaired by a Green.
Labour said: “This is covered in the report – in summary: this is an officer calculation and process. They follow best practice / common practice across the country.
“They calculate the percentage of councillors and then apply that to the number of seats. They then round up or down because (obviously) you can’t have 0.25 of a committee seat.
“That’s results in the below allocations. With these calculations there is a spare / unallocated seat. Where this is the case – common practice across the country is to allocate the seat to the largest party.
“Brighton and Hove Independents could equally ask for an additional seat on similar grounds or indeed any of the Independents.
“There is no particularly fair way to decide which party gets one in these circumstances so officers allocate it to the largest party which is what happens everywhere else – and has always happened at Brighton and Hove City Council.”.
If the public were fully aware of the Labour Party’s intentions and views of the public, it’s likely they would lose significant support. Their secretive meetings, attempts to derail constructive discussions and tendency to shift blame onto others is scary, . Based on their track record both in government and in opposition I’m surprised by the 20% they get in the polls. Labour were awful in opposition and worse in power.
And just in case anyone complains to the Local Government Association (LGA) about BHCC Labour’s conduct and democracy-with-a-twist, Bella has got herself a nice little gig there too. Several in fact. She’s got it all sewn up.
LGA Board Deputy Chair
Executive Advisory Board Deputy Chair
Councillors’ Forum Deputy Chair
https://lga.moderngov.co.uk/mgDeclarationSubmission.aspx?UID=4677&HID=3437&FID=0&HPID=0
#ListeningLabour – think we can all see what that means in reality – zero community voice and and opportunities for scrutiny squashed.
The LGA has no control over local councils.
And doesn’t deal with complaints against councils.
You’d have to be ‘green’ to suppose that Bella and co brought in the cabinet system for any reason other than to be grossly unfair to non-Labour Councillors, turning them into the equivalent of chocolate teapots utterly useless to their electorate and cutting full council meetings by a third. Democratic Services have more or less given up replying to their emails. Democracy in this city is flatlining.
It is not long until thr local Election campaign begins. Whatever happens across Sussex in the meanwhile, there is mileage for opposition parties here to advocate a return to the Committee system which Labour tossed aside.
The new Mayor of Sussex will have zero control over any of the local councils in the two counties area.
And to be honest local government governance arrangements are hardly in the forefront of most people’s minds when voting,
Not sure what Councillor Davis is complaining about. The calculation is set down in law and the Greens benefited from such extra seats when they led the council.
FYI – the full report that went to the meeting today
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/documents/b41447/Addendum%202%2022nd-May-2025%2016.30%20Council.pdf?T=9
BTW is IS the Annual Council Meeting not ‘known as’ meeting. Again set down in law.
Perhaps a quick game of musical chairs for our 54 city Councillors at each ‘Full Council’ meeting would be a democratic way forward.