Hello Winsford, or at least the part of the town that actually reads this...
I have a question for you.
Do you remember your GCSE (Or GCE) or even "A level" maths? Keeping your head down to learn those lovely topics such as algebra, functions, powers, statistics, trigonometry and even indices to name but a few.
But you never did proportionality did you? Aha, got you there because it seems to me at least, it's only a real subject in politics because in politics, proportionality means prizes (no, not points mean etc...).
What it means is that when things are "tight" or when a multitude of parties have been elected then all the places on a committee are given out proportionally.
In CWAC, this means that because Labour have the majority (but don't have the majority big enough to control the council fully) they get to select most of the committee chairpersons (the "prizes" as they often come with extra "responsibility allowance" to the normal "allowance" we get).
Right then, moving on - proportionality makes a lot of sense when the political make up demands it and all parties (especially beneficial for independents if they form a "group" more on that later) get representation on nearly all the committees the council run. Remember that the committees are quite large at CWAC and there are 70 Cllrs. WTC have 15 Cllrs, 10 of which are Labour.
At town and parish council level - which Winsford is a fairly bog-standard one - the rules of proportionality do not apply USUALLY.
So what makes WTC so very different? Well our Labour representatives of the "corbynism is alive and well" brigade who haven't quite cottoned on that its over for that brand + momentum + marxism etc... and since elected have overly politicised our town council.
What that means in practice is that they have no intention of letting independents (who are "old Labour" stalwarts until they were forced out of the party by the Corbynistas) sit on any meaningful committees.
Those three independents have not formed a group (unlike our "quiet as lambs" Liberal Democrats who are complicit to Labour - demonstrated by their inability to give any sort of opposition to them) and as such are three separate "groups".
Labout throw the proportionality curve ball to keep those independents off things like the finance committee but they are allowed to attend the planning committee - why is that you ask? Well, looks like the Labour members have been missing a few planning committee meetings so to keep the Committee going (called quorate) they need the independents.
Watching the car crash of a Town Council meeting "it's really well attended because we get people [Labour party stalwarts] watching and yet no one actually participates or asks a question" and AGM the other night - once again we see the Labour bully tactics and moral high ground grab in all it's glory.
How? Well, when asked by Cllr Kennedy (independent) about proportionality and its unfairness, Cllr Savage stated.....
"The rules of proportionality don't actually apply at Parish/Town level but we have, to be fair, the Labour group...decided to apply them to give the opposition members and opportunity to sit on committees"
Here is the plain English version...
"We, the Labour Group are not letting those guys go anywhere near the committees we don't want them to because we don't like the scrutiny. However, we know the optics look bad on that so we brought in a rule not applied elsewhere to make sure we can either get them on the committees we need them on or sideline them to committees which no real decisions are made on. We are wonderful aren't we and so very gracious for doing that".
So here is a thought for you all.
I am going to step out on a limb here and say that this town should consider whether the over politicising of its town council is a good thing or not. Maybe it's time for all (non-Labour) political parties or interested residents to unite under a new banner and bring this controlling and ultimately failing force to an end at the place it matters most - the ballet box. All done with a dose of proportionality, of course. Just a thought
P.S. I have provided a link whereby you can look at CWAC Cllrs expenses, allowances and responsibility (WTC Cllrs do not receive any allowances)
https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-and-committees/councillors-allowances/documents/members-allowances-2018-19.pdf
