It's red and blue! Worcester City Council gets Labour leader and Tory deputy as committee system starts

Labour Councillor Adrian Gregson has clung on by the narrowest possible margin, and remains city leader by 18 votes to 17 due to Green Party support.

But Tory Councillor Marc Bayliss will now work alongside him as deputy leader, in a dramatic change voted through last night.

The old Labour cabinet has been abolished, with the council now governed under a committee system, a return back to a model last used almost 18 years ago.

During the meeting the Conservatives made a last-ditch bid to get two 'co-leaders' in place, saying it would be the fairest solution as they are the largest party with 17 councillors, one more than Labour.

But the city's two Greens rejected the plea, saying the Labour and Tory group leaders are not ready to work hand-in-hand.

It meant Cllr Gregson remains in control of the authority, although his leader's role is not as powerful under the new committee system.

Cllr Gregson said: "I hope, as we move into this new system we re-energise and improve the way people get involved in the workings of the council.

"We'll be running a modern committee system, not the one of old."

He appealed to all parties to avoid lurching to the "lowest possible denominator" and called for less tribal politics, leading to some criticism across the chamber.

During the meeting the Tories turned their fire on the Greens, with the Conservative's deputy group leader Cllr Chris Mitchell pointing out that they have two co-leaders nationally, Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley.

He said: "The question is, if it's good enough for the Greens nationally, why not here?

"Or is it the case of say one thing, and do another."

Tory Councillor Roger Knight said having two co-leaders would be "the logical next step", telling the chamber it would end any one party dominating events.

But Labour Councillor Geoff Williams said he was "surprised" the Tories had not mentioned it during cross-party talks in recent weeks.

"The word 'co-leadership' sounds enticing, but the mechanics of it are very different indeed," he said.

"Who will resolve disagreements? Who would allocate tasks, who would be a 'point of contact' on things?"

Some Labour councillors said it would be "utterly unrealistic" to expect both the main parties to share the top leadership, while Green Councillor Louis Stephen added: "For a co-leadership to work, it needs two people to get along and cooperate."

A Tory group bid to get Cllr Bayliss elected as overall leader also failed, before the Greens sided with Labour to draw the final vote to a close.

WHAT IS THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM?

THE old Labour cabinet is now gone and in its place are a series of committees, each one focusing on specific services.

There are three main committees, one called 'policy and resources', one called 'communities', and one called 'environment'.

Each one gets responsibility for service areas which fit under their remit - for example bin collections would come under 'environment' and play areas would come under 'communities'.

Under the now system there are also dedicated sub-committees making decisions on matters which affect the city centre, income generation and staffing.

The seats on each committee have been allocated evenly between the parties - split between Labour, the Conservatives and two Greens.

In terms of the plum roles Green Councillor Louis Stephen will chair the policy and resources committee, Tory Councillor Mike Johnson will run the communities one, and Labour Councillor Joy Squires chairs the environment one, with vice-chairs chosen from the opposing parties.

Some other existing regulatory-style bodies like planning, licensing and audit committees remain in place.

Every year the budget and council tax will still be decided each February by the full council.

But the new system also means the leader's role will be significantly different - no council leader will be able to call upon a one-party cabinet to make decisions.

The cabinet system was brought in at the city council back in 2000, but it now joins the likes of Stroud, Reading, Nottinghamshire and Brighton in switching back.