Darlington council's decision to open up the meetings of its cabinet to the Press and public is most welcome if a little unexpected.

The council's Labour leadership appeared committed to the dangerous principle of the key executive body taking the main council decisions away from the glare of public scrutiny

It said it would lead to more effective decision making with council officers able to give franker advice on issues and there would be none of the political posturing which tended to plague the old council committee meetings.

The changes which are sweeping through town halls across the country are welcome. The old structures dated from the early part this century, were cumbersome and long-winded. For the uninitiated they were incomprehensible and contributed to the lack of interest in local government. Modernisation was overdue.

The problem with the options given to local authorities to experiment with were that the principle of open democracy was given short shrift. There was great emphasis on consultation with local residents and councillors building more effective relationships with the people they represented but little on making sure the decision-making process remained at all times transparent.

The problem with policy-making behind closed doors is that it leaves councillors the option of keeping certain matters from proper public scrutiny. Ninety-nine per cent of the time they will not feel the need to do so but in a few cases, where an issue is considered particularly sensitive, the option of keeping something under wraps for a period, for news management purposes perhaps, is very attractive.

Keeping the cabinet open to public scrutiny makes that less likely, if not impossible, and sends an important signal to the electorate that councillors want to be openly democratic, and seen to be so.

Openness in government has to be fought for because it is a natural inclination for politicians, once in power, to retain the right to conduct themselves in secret when it suits them.

Hence Labour's proposals on a Freedom of Information Act when in opposition were lauded as a great step forward. The reality of the Bill about to enter its committee stage in the Lords is something much less than that. A Bill Mr Blair promised would fundamentally change the relationship between government and citizens is just a shadow of its former self as expressed in Labour's manifesto and pronouncements prior to May 1997.

It is as if Mr Blair and colleagues, once in power and with all the information they want - and some they don't want, perhaps - have felt the political instinct to control information to be overwhelming. The result is a Bill with so many exemptions it is hardly an improvement on the Conservative's Code of Practice introduced in 1994.

The battle over freedom of information at Westminster will continue but a small battle won in Darlington is worth celebrating. The residents of Darlington should also keep their side of the bargain. Rest assured the Darlington & Stockton Times will, as ever, be recording the work of the local authority. But townsfolk should also be vigilant in keeping an eye on their councillors, helping them to represent the town's interests more effectively.

Government reforms in this area of council work are a step forward. We do need councillors to consider their work to be more than just a matter of attending meetings (and collecting an allowance).

Councillors should be more directly and visibly involved with the communities they represent. That requires more active participation in the democratic process by the electorate. That, in turn, is immeasurably assisted by the democratic process being conducted in the comforting light of the public gaze