Streaming Now
Facebook

Council to make changes to 'decision-making structure'

Fri, 13 Dec 2019

Story by Local Democracy Reporter Ewan Gawne
Story by Local Democracy Reporter Ewan Gawne
Douglas Council has changed its decision-making structure ahead of the 2020 local authority general elections.
 
There’ll be fewer seats up for grabs during the April contest –  the number of councillors is being cut from 18-12,  with three representing each of the four new wards.
 
There’s concern amongst current members this will lead to an increased workload and greater time commitments for those who are elected.
 
As a result, changes have been made to the council’s five committees: executive, environmental services, pensions, regeneration and community, and housing.
 
The latter will now  come back under the executive committee’s ‘umbrella’ and report on policy and budgetary matters rather than operate independently.
 
With this added scrutiny, the need for an independent member to sit on the housing committee has also been deemed unnecessary.
 
Other changes to the authrority’s constitution are also expected to come forward ahead of next year’s elections.
 
Council Leader David Christian explained that after April 2020, councillors will be expected to attend an average of 30 scheduled meetings.
 
A leaflet is also being prepared for prospective candidates to let them know what to expect from the role.
 

 

Subscribe to get Energy FM News direct to your mobile device

You can get Energy FM News delivered direct to your mobile device using one of the following methods.

  • In the Apple News App on iOS search for Energy FM IOM and then just add it to your favourites
  • In the Google News & Weather App just search for Energy FM and then add us as a customised section
  • If you use an RSS Reader then just add our feed to your app, click here for our news RSS feed