Appointments Under Scrutiny

12.53.58pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 31st May 2006

At tomorrow's Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee meeting, the cross-party Committee will be considering a "call-in" on appointments to outside bodies. The Liberal Democrats have "called in" the decision of Cabinet on 2nd May to appoint only Conservative members to represent the County Council on strategic bodies. This means that the decision will be scrutinised by backbench members of the Council, and the Cabinet may be asked to think again if the Committee so decides.

Cllr Zoé Patrick, Leader of the Opposition will ask the Committee to consider whether single-party delegations are the most effective way of representing Oxfordshire on the national and regional scene and whether it is sensible to ignore the many talents of members of all groups in a "job grab".

"I asked for 5 places out of 31 which is a very modest request and more reflects the political balance of the Council," said Zoé Patrick. "I did not expect a place where the Council is only represented by one or two people, but only on bodies where the Council sends a delegation of three or four."

"A number of other Conservative Councils do send proportionally balanced delegations to regional and national bodies - for example, 14 out of 24 Conservative Councils send balanced delegations to the County Councils Network. All three Liberal Democrat controlled County Councils do the same, and the Lib Dem controlled Vale of White Horse District Council also allows their opposition Tories places on some outside bodies.

"The Tories were only elected on 34% of the votes cast across Oxfordshire last year, yet they immediately took every single chair, vice chair and outside body - without any regard to experience that other councillors could offer. I hope that the Committee will ask the Cabinet to think again about this."