Council leader at Guildford resigns over governance changes
The Leader of Guildford Borough Council has resigned after the authority voted to introduce governance changes.
Stephen Mansbridge has also stepped down as councillor for the Ash and South Tongham ward.
At a meeting of full council earlier this month (7 October) councillors at Guildford approved a recommendation for the introduction of two executive advisory boards (EABs).
The EABs are intended to provide pre-decision scrutiny of significant executive decisions and advise the council’s Executive at an early stage about the formulation and development of policies and projects that will help deliver the authority’s corporate plan.
The proposed remits of the boards are:
- the Borough, Economy and Infrastructure EAB; and
- the Society, Environment and Council Development EAB.
Each EAB will comprise 12 non-executive councilors. Political balance is to apply to the allocation of those seats.
The new arrangements have been designed with a view to making all councillors feel involved in part of the process of running the council.
The changes will also see the council have only one overview and scrutiny committee instead of the two currently in place.
In a resignation statement on the Guildford website, Cllr Mansbridge said: “I have been minded to step down for sometime and, whilst I have been asked to stay, I no longer feel able to do so.
“I hold strong views about how the council is run and about its ability to make strong and good decisions. I cannot accept the changes in governance, which is why I voted against them at a recent council meeting.”
Cllr Mansbridge said he had been “passively” in favour of a petition for a directly elected mayor “because a successful petition would nullify any petition that attempts to weaken the council's governance under the shroud of improved democracy”.
He added: “My view has evolved, in line with George Osborne's direction for greater devolution, to be that we need larger entities with directly elected mayors…..
“Governance is the key and strong governance is essential if Guildford is to continue to excel. Democracy is exercised at the polls and strong processes should not be misrepresented as being devoid of public involvement.”
In June a petition calling for the introduction of a directly-elected mayor in Guildford was rejected as invalid. To be valid, it needed 5,012 signatures, being 5% of the local government electors for the council's area. However, there were only 3,570 such signatures.
Guildford’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Nigel Manning, will take on the role of Leader until a new Leader is elected by the council on 8 December.
He said: "There is a lot to do and we continue to work on the challenging programme we've agreed."
Sue Sturgeon, the local authority’s Managing Director, said: "This is unexpected and sad news. My clear message to everyone, including our partners, is that it will be business as usual. We have a very ambitious agenda, which the council agreed in the Corporate Plan."
