THE Labour leader of of Durham County Council has rejected claims he is trying to shut down debate on controversial issues.

Councillor Simon Henig has come under fire for ruling that backbench and opposition councillors wishing to speak at cabinet meetings must give advance notice and state their reason for wanting to do so.

His political opponents claim he wants to stifle debate and silence dissent.

But Coun Henig said: “All I’m trying to do is keep people speaking on relevant issues.

“It’s not about stopping people speaking, it’s just about giving a structure to it.

“There’s so much going on that we need to die the agenda down.

Councillors have lots of opportunities to ask questions.”

The new cabinet protocol was announced in a letter to councillors dated April 7 and came into effect on April 15, at the cabinet’s first meeting since the council became a unitary authority on April 1.

Any non-cabinet member wishing to speak is instructed to give notice by 4pm the day before the meeting and specify their reason for doing so, such as being a local member, chair of a relevant scrutiny committee or having another relevant connection.

Councillor John Shuttleworth, an independent who represents Weardale, said: “The new council is supposed to be open and transparent, but this is Stalinist.”

Councillor Carol Woods, a Liberal Democrat who represents Sherburn, said: “They’re intent on not allowing people to speak at cabinet. There has to be democratic representation. It looks like they’re trying to silence opposition.

It doesn’t bode well for County Durham.”

However, Coun Henig, who formalised the right to speak at cabinet when he became council leader last year and has since introduced a half-hour public question time, said he accepted all nine advance requests to speak at Wednesday’s meeting.

“In Durham we have always thought we need to keep as much as we can in the open,” he said.

“It’s entirely right that councillors who have a reason to speak do so.

“I think we’re best practice in terms of how cabinet runs. Elsewhere, there are cabinets that meet in private and that exclude councillors,” he said.

Coun Henig added that he would monitor the new system over the coming months.

Acid Test

Durham County Council in spotlight

NEXT week The Northern Echo will launch a year-long series looking at whether County Durham’s new unitary authority is living up to its promises to improve services and provide better value for taxpayers’ money. We will put the council under the spotlight, scrutinise its performance and take an indepth look at whether it is delivering for County Durham. Let us know your thoughts.