DEMANDS to stop City of York Council's leaders making decisions in private will be made tomorrow.

The Evening Press last week reported that the council's executive was meeting in private, despite promises made by leader Rod Hills that decisions would be made in public when the new style of cabinet government was adopted last year.

Liberal Democrat leader Steve Galloway will use tomorrow's full council meeting to insist that members of the public are invited to all executive meetings.

He will ask councillors to support his statement that: "Council instructs the executive to hold all their meetings in public, unless there are sound reasons which can be justified."

A City of York Council spokesman said today: "From time to time, the council's executive has met in private when members have been able to take briefings from officers and discuss strategic issues without having to formulate a decision

"All decisions of the council are made in public and all decisions of the executive are made at public meetings."

Coun Galloway will also use the meeting to urge action to fill senior City of York Council posts left empty for months.

He will insist that the council reveals how many officer positions are unfilled, and what is being done to recruit.

It follows a number of resignations from high-powered positions.

Coun Galloway said: "There has been a significant movement of staff, some of which is healthy and to be expected, but there is concern about it."

He said many of the resignations came from head-hunting by larger organisations impressed by the record of City of York Council departments.

"Many of York's departments have good reputations, and that means we are vulnerable to staff being cherry-picked by other authorities which are larger and can offer higher salaries," he said.

"What I want to know is that we have a good record of how many vacancies there are, what is being done to fill them and who is doing the work of the people who have left?"

Senior council officers who have left in the past nine months include chief executive David Clark, education director Mike Peters and assistant chief executive Peter Berry.

The council spokesman said: "At present we have a total of four out of 29 chief officer posts vacant and have arranged appropriate cover for these posts."

Updated: 12:14 Monday, April 23, 2001