Time change causes row at council

A row has erupted at Wolverhampton City Council - over what time a monthly meeting starts at the Civic Centre.

The scrutiny board, the forum where council policy is debated in public, will now kick off at 5.30pm rather than 5pm.

It follows claims that Tory councillors were struggling to make it on time.

Opposition Labour members have labelled the move "a disgrace" because it was approved by Conservative leader Neville Patten off his own back. But the leader has accused his rivals of hypocrisy.

He says that Labour chiefs once cancelled a full council meeting because there was supposedly nothing to discuss.

The scrutiny board is seen by opposition councillors as a key meeting where they can call in council policy for examination, delay matters going ahead and generally kick up a fuss.

It has always been a power in its own right and used by the opposition as a way of publicly criticising official policies since its inception in the 1990s.

The controlling Tory-Liberal Democrat alliance, led by Councillor Patten, has now altered the time-honoured 5pm start by 30 minutes to allow more of his counterparts to get along and watch.

Councillor Peter O'Neill, Labour member for Bushbury South and Low Hill, said: "It's a disgrace that the leader of this council should be deciding what time the scrutiny board starts meetings.

Councillor Bob Jones, a Labour councillor and ex-Mayor, said: "Since when did the executive decide what time we meet up?

"We are supposed to keep an eye on the council, not the other way around."

Councillor Neville Patten has said the switch was because other cabinet meetings are set to take place at 5pm on the same day as scrutiny meetings over the next year, and this gives members the chance to attend both.

He said: "This is just nitpicking by Labour. Every year when they have been in control they have altered meetings to suit themselves.

The scrutiny panel is next due to hold a meeting on June 24.

By Tom Edwards