Leader of the Conservative Group at Scarborough Borough Council Cllr Derek Bastiman has taken the step of setting up a shadow cabinet to reflect the Labour and Independent administration.
“As we move into the new economic reality that will be our borough after Covid19 we need to ensure the multi million pound decisions being made in our name are the correct ones. What was possible in 2019 may need to be revised and re-imagined as we try to rejuvenate all the different areas of our borough. Every member needs to have the chance to question the administration, this has been missing since February with the leader similarly being absent during this crisis. Democracy has been sidelined and we seek to address this by forming an official opposition from within the largest group on the council.”
The first task for the new shadow cabinet is to ensure all elected members are involved with decision making. The work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is a vital tool to hold the current administration accountable for the decisions they are making.
Cllr Bastiman had previously offered to form a Rainbow coalition with the current governing groups but this was rejected. “My intention was to offer the talents within our group to help in the current crisis, the electorate didn’t choose to have a Labour led council, they did choose to have a broad spectrum of elected members to represent them”.
The shadow cabinet will meet regularly with council officers and look forward to ensuring all the voices in the chamber are heard by the administration.
