IN March last year, Rod Hills told the Evening Press that the new cabinet-style council would be a change for the better. "The process will be more open, with rigorous monitoring by representative scrutiny and calling-in bodies," the leader of City of York Council said.

But that promise of openness has not been kept, according to Councillor Steve Galloway. The Liberal Democrat group leader claims that major decisions affecting the lives of thousands of York residents are effectively being taken behind closed doors.

He said the executive regularly met in private to determine policy. The subsequent public executive meetings are often stage managed to give the impression of democracy in action.

These are grave allegations, and ones that are not entirely refuted by Coun Hills. He admits some meetings are held in private, and has conceded the new system has its faults. Budget proposals, for example, were drawn up in private and revealed only days before the vote, hampering debate.

The previous committee system was far from ideal. It was unwieldy and bureaucratic. That was why the Government chose to shake up the way local government worked.

But the one clear advantage of the committee system was its openness. Members of all parties were able to discuss agenda items in detail, putting across the views of their constituents. Most importantly, the public were able to have their say and question councillors at each step of the process. There was less of a sense that deals had already been done.

Coun Galloway's criticisms come in the same month that the Evening Press expressed concern about the use of the urgency committee to rush through key decisions without adequate debate.

Cabinet-style politics has certainly made life easier for the ruling Labour group. That is not necessarily good for democracy, however. The less open the council appears, the more disillusioned voters will become. Instead of improving election turnouts - one of the main reasons for introducing the system - even fewer citizens will feel inclined to vote.

Updated: 10:20 Monday, April 16, 2001