The leader of Northumberland County Council's opposition party has criticised the ruling Conservative administration over changes to the board of the authority's development company.
The council's cabinet this week unveiled new governance arrangements for its subsidiary companies - namely Advance Northumberland - that would see just one councillor sit on the board.
It comes after the Max Caller report earlier this year highlighted issues with the governance of the council's company.
Mr Caller particularly highlighted Advance's board, and criticised the skills and training requirements of board members and the potential conflicts of interest for elected members and council officers serving as directors. The local government enforcer also raised concerns about the lack of independent non-executive directors on the board.
At Tuesday's cabinet meeting, members unanimously agreed to adopt the new principles which would see an increase in the number of independent non-executive directors on the company's board in order to provide "expertise and skill in leading the company" while also retaining one elected councillor and one council officer as directors.
Council leader Glen Sanderson said the move showed the council was "wanting to move forward together with Advance Northumberland" and said the company had made "great progress" in recent years.
He added: "We want to put a collective arm around the shoulder of Advance" and said the new framework would be "fit for purpose."
However, Labour leader Coun Scott Dickinson was disappointed the decision was made by the council's cabinet, without involvement from other groups. The Conservatives currently lead a minority administration on the council, and are one seat short of overall control.
The leader of the opposition said he had expected there to be either no councillors on the board, or a balance of members from different parties.
Coun Dickinson said: "I am disappointed I have had to find out about changes to the board of Advance from whispering staff and press articles. I support change in governance, as Caller and councillors from Labour and the administration spotted that changes were desperately needed.
"I have seen and discussed thoughts about the independence of the board, but we've got a bit of a u-turn on that it would appear, with one councillor remaining. How on earth can we continue to work in any kind of cross party partnership to help put the council back on track when another example of significant change without consultation has taken place.
"I have continued to support the corporate councillor position and given positive feedback on progress to the Challenge Board and others. However this is something I will need to write to them and others about in order to ensure they know decisions such as these are not being made collectively or with consultation."
The challenge board, chaired by former Newcastle City Council chief executive Pat Ritchie, was set up to be a "critical friend" in the wake of the Caller review. It regularly reports back to a cross-party oversight group of councillors.
Currently, six councillors sit on the Advance Northumberland board. They are:
- Jeff Watson (Conservative)
- Jeff Reid (Liberal Democrat)
- Guy Renner-Thompson (Conservative)
- John Riddle (Conservative)
- Steven Bridgett (Independent)
- Mary Murphy (Labour)
Responding to Coun Dickinson's comments, a Northumberland Conservative Party spokesman said: "It is clear that other groups were aware of the proposal as the member’s oversight group which all groups are encouraged to attend were given the facts and the cabinet papers were made available prior to the recent cabinet meeting held in public and also broadcast.
"That is when the decision was made. To make out that there was a lack of consultation or communication is difficult to understand. Legal advice has been given to say this was to be dealt with as an executive decision to be taken by the cabinet. The business is moving forward."
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