A LEADING former politician at Worcester City Council has voiced concern over its impending switch to a committee system.

Francis Lankester, a well-known former Conservative cabinet member, says the current Tory group need to be "careful" over the looming change.

Mr Lankester, who served for 13 years in the Cathedral ward before losing his seat, has also admitted to fears about a lack of accountability with the change.

As the Worcester News has revealed in recent weeks, in May the cabinet model of governance is being ripped up for committee rule, where all the parties effectively share power.

The controversial change was inspired by the 17-strong Conservative group, which is currently stuck in opposition despite having one more councillor than the ruling Labour Party.

Mr Lankester's intervention came during a scrutiny meeting at the Guildhall, where he questioned the need for change.

"I experienced both the committee and cabinet system and there are two fundamental principles I feel are important," he said.

"The first one is, there must be a clear strategic direction for the way we want to the city to go.

"And second one is making sure you have transparency and accountability."

He said his "personal view" was that under the old system too much power was in the hands of officers, saying back in the late 1990s the old chief finance officer "got away with murder" due to their superior knowledge over elected councillors.

He also voiced concern about a potential lack of genuine scrutiny under a committee model, compared to the set-up now. "

"As a taxpayer, I will be extraordinarily disappointed if this higher level of scrutiny is not maintained under a new system, whatever that system is," he said.

"As a cabinet member I put in a lot of hours, Councillor Geraghty (Simon Geraghty, the city's ex-leader) put a lot in too, and I'm sure Labour councillors do the same.

"If the cabinet is not going to exist we've got to make sure we don't just bring everything to committee for 'a decision'."

He also said he felt the councillors who end up sitting on key committees, such as a finance one, will be "the same people" who have served in both Tory and Labour cabinets over the years.

"To me, that's not spreading decision making," he said.

The new governance model is currently being drawn up and will be subject to consultation before starting in May.

The change was forced through after the Tory group got support from the Guildhall's two Green councillors.