A smokescreen?

He talks of motions being "vetted" by the executive. But any councillor can still bring any motion directly to full council, just as they could under the old constitution.

The new option to bring motions early through the executive allows a full report to be provided so members can have background information at the council meeting.

In the same way, submitting questions earlier gives more time to provide detailed, meaningful answers. The old system saw much time wasted when questions submitted on the day of a council meeting could not be answered at the meeting, so a written reply had to be provided afterwards. For urgent matters, questions can still be submitted up to the day of the meeting.

York's new constitution preserves the vital principles present in its predecessor. All decisions will be made at meetings open to the public. And York has opted to keep a shadow executive (ensuring that it, too, meets in public) because we accept that a properly-supported opposition is part of the democratic process.

It is a pity Coun Fraser's letter omits to mention his party's demand that only members of the "main opposition" party should be involved in some roles. As well as sidelining the smaller parties, this would conveniently have secured more positions for Labour.

A main aim of the new constitution is to ensure the right information is available at meetings. They should take less time and be more effective.

Surely, Labour colleagues should be supporting a move like this.

Ian Cuthbertson,

Strensall Ward Councillor,

City of York Council,

Plainville Lane,

Wigginton, York.

Updated: 10:56 Tuesday, May 16, 2006