Hebden Bridge News

Calderdale's Mayoral Consultation Inconclusive

Calderdale Councillors will choose a how the Council will be run in the future when they meet next week (December 16th). Members will receive a report into the public consultation which offered two options for how the Council should governed.

Options were:

- A directly elected Mayor (elected by Calderdale voters) and a Cabinet

Or…

- A Council Leader (elected by Councillors) and a Cabinet

Under the options, an Elected Mayor would have a four year term and could not be removed by resolution of the Council. A Leader would be elected by the Council, generally with a four year term, but could be removed by resolution of the Council.

The Council consulted residents between 15 October and 26 November, in a process which involved:

• Distribution of leaflets and posters to all Council public buildings and through ward forum meetings

• A special area on the Council’s website
• Prepared questions and answers so the Contact Centre staff could help people with any queries over the ‘phone

• Briefings and press releases for the local media
• Production of a special edition of Calderdale Call, delivered to 97,000 households across the borough
• Calderdale Engage
• Parish and Town Councils
• Calderdale Councillors
• Members of Parliament
• Independent and co-opted Members of the Council

The consultation prompted a total of 995 responses. The breakdown of responses was:

Option1- Indirectly Elected Leader – 332 responses – 33.4%
Option 2 – Directly Elected Mayor – 472 responses – 47.4%
No preference expressed – 82 responses – 8.2%
Preference not clear – 36 responses – 3.6%
Opposed to an Elected Mayor – 43 responses – 4.3%
“Keep things as they are” – 30 responses – 3.0%

When they meet next week, councillors will decide on which of the two options they wish to adopt.

The Chair of Calderdale Council’s Constitution Working Group, Cllr Tim Swift, said the working group would be recommending to full Council that it should opt for the leader and cabinet model.

“This was because in the light of the relatively low level of response overall (less than 1% of the adult population despite all the steps taken to publicise the consultation) and the fact that the figures are inconclusive, we do not believe that a case has been made for the radical change.

“However, we are also clear that the final decision rests with the full Council and are urging each member to vote on the issue on their personal judgement of the merits of the case.”

Cllr Swift said the working group had also agreed that all the detailed comments from the consultation should be made public.

“We recognised that, whichever option they supported, many of those responding had raised serious concerns about how the Council presently operates, and that the onus is on all of us to ensure that whatever new system is chosen, we do more to respond to the concerns of local people.

“While 509 people opted for a directly elected Mayor, 361 voted for an indirectly elected Leader, with a further 40 saying they were opposed to an elected Mayor and a further 29 voting to maintain the status quo.

“Members will be taking all of these responses into account when the report is considered and before making a decision,” he said.