RESIDENTS are not getting to know enough about decisions taken by small groups of "super-councillors" who often meet in private, according to Government-commissioned research.
The Government has claimed that its radical shake-up of town halls will make councils more accountable and get people more involved.
But researchers have revealed that cabinet-style executives, like the one to be introduced by Blackburn with Darwen Council next month, "lack transparency and openness" and have not provided effective checks and balances on decision-making.
The press and public will be excluded from cabinet meetings where Blackburn with Darwen Council will make its decisions.
The research, which studied six unnamed councils who have already changed their structures, was carried out by experts from the University of Birmingham on behalf of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). The report states: "The case study authorities are struggling to introduce effective overview and scrutiny arrangements -- only two out of the six have reasonably well developed scrutiny functions."
Other problems included "patchy" public consultation, and the report states that four out of the six authorities did not consult the public at all.
Only 18 people in Blackburn and Darwen were consulted about the plans to hold cabinet meetings in private, Conservative councillors claimed at a recent council meeting.
Councillors outside the elite cabinet group "had a sense that it was much harder to obtain information about what was going on", and that caused concerns for opposition groups as well as backbench members of the ruling parties. Professor Michael Clarke from the University of Birmingham said: "There is a danger we lose sight of everything this is about -- to improve local government services."
Liberal Democrat councillors this week handed over a petition from 1,000 Blackburn with Darwen residents protesting about council secrecy.
In a recent Lancashire Evening Telegraph phone poll, 331 readers voted against proposals to hold cabinet meetings in private, with only seven callers in favour.
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