Radical changes for Kirklees Council but only 89 people vote

Dec 9 2009 By Barry Gibson

"After two months we received 89 responses, which may sound surprisingly low but is actually higher than a lot of similar or bigger authorities. For example Newcastle received 16 responses and Birmingham none whatsoever.

"A previous referendum in Kirklees showed a similar apathy towards the leadership model debate and this latest consultation highlights that the vast majority of people aren’t particularly interested in council processes, they are interested in service delivery."

Kirklees will make a final decision on the plan at its monthly meeting tonight. The new system will be brought in after the council elections in May.

The council is being forced to change by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act of 2007.

None of the political parties on Kirklees supports ditching the current nine-strong Cabinet system. However, all the groups favoured a leader elected by councillors rather than a mayor voted in by the public.

Clr Khan said: "We stated from the beginning that our preferred model was for a leader rather than a directly-elected mayor who would be given too much power and would be less accountable to councillors.

"Our position has always been clear and, of the responses we had in the consultation, most people were in favour of this system. We are happy to move forward on to the next stage."