Selby's leading Tory today called for the resignation of district council leader Geoff Lynch after a new local authority performance league showed Selby near the bottom of the table.

Councillor John Emsley, Conservative group leader on the Labour-dominated district council, said Selby's ranking of 270th out of 274 local authorities across England was an appalling measure of its competence.

But Labour stalwart Coun Lynch hit back, saying Selby's council taxpayers got good value for money and he had no intention of quitting.

The survey was conducted by a national newspaper with assistance from Peter Chowney, former Audit Commission expert on performance indicators.

With district councils, 11 factors were examined, such as the percentage of planning applications decided within eight weeks, the percentage of council tax and rent collected, and the percentage of new claims for council tax benefit processed within 14 days.

Coun Emsley fumed: "Selby residents must surely feel cheated, especially when Labour has raised council taxes substantially, only to end up almost bottom of the table."

He said the low rating was a far cry from the council leader's recent statement that the last district auditor's report was a pat on the back.

Labour had also abolished the strategic guidance committee, set up by the Conservatives to monitor performance.

Coun Emsley said: "We now have a situation where there is no substantial committee overseeing performance or assessing targets."The Labour group was so busy embroiled in internal wrangles that the smooth running of the council had become a "mere side show."He added: "The truth of the matter is such as to cause dismay. Chief officers are no longer set targets, therefore performance cannot be monitored.

"Labour councillors do not permit officers to take decisions without prior approval because they are taken by Labour councillors behind closed doors."

Conservative councillor Arthur Cawood said he was very disappointed by Selby's ranking. There needed to be a dramatic improvement, which could only be achieved by setting targets and monitoring the performance of staff.

Coun Lynch said the council's shortcomings were the result of undermanning after they lost 80 staff following the local government boundary review.

The authority was now addressing those problems by recruiting staff. Every committee report contained key performance indicators which members were at liberty to question.

He said the last Audit Commission report concluded the council gave good value for money, despite being understaffed. He rejected allegations of political in-fighting, and said the recent council tax increase of 6.3 per cent was below the Government's forecast of seven per cent.

Coun Lynch added: "I've no intention of resigning. I'm just flattered that the Conservatives want me out of the way."

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