Flintshire: Call to reduce size of council amid cabinet row

A clash over the size and cost of Flintshire County Council’s cabinet has prompted a call to cut the number of elected members overall.

Flintshire Council leaders were asked to justify the number of cabinet members selected by the leader for the second time in three weeks by Flintshire People’s Voice.

But while they debated with the leader of the council the merits of cabinet size, Cllr Chris Dolphin argued that Flintshire has too many councillors – 67 – and needed to reduce the overall number of councillors elected to the chamber.

“We have got too many councillors,” said the member for Whitford. “Flintshire has 67 county councillors. We should start a campaign to cut the amount of county councillors in Flintshire.

“I’ve said it for years – 2,000 residents is the average for a ward, mine is about that – but it should be double.

“Double it, not a problem and that’s a big country area. That’s where we should be concentrating.”

His call came as Hawarden Aston Cllr Gillian Brockley challenged the current number of cabinet members Flintshire County Council has – 10 – arguing that the decision by council leader Cllr Dave Hughes to add two additional members  is a waste of council resources.

Those two new members are Cllr Dolphin – responsible for Economy, Environment and Climate,  and Cllr Richard Jones – responsible for Transformation.

Flintshire People’s Voice Cllr Brockley first raised the issue as an amendment to the budget in February. Her proposal was to return Flintshire’s Cabinet to eight members – the same number there were in 2023. That would save just under £40,000 which she proposed taking off council tax – saving Flintshire families 48p per year.

That amendment was voted down by full council. At a special meeting of Flintshire County Council this week however she submitted a notice of motion almost identical to that amendment.

Again it called on the council to scrap the two new cabinet roles – which she described as a 25%  increase in cabinet salaries – to save money.

“The Labour/Independent coalition has put council tax up by 9.5%,” she said. “They have overseen a 25% growth in salaries paid to cabinet members in just over two years.

“This motion from Flintshire People’s Voice forces the coalition to reverse this unnecessary expenditure. They cannot inflict financial pain on ordinary residents while a bloated cabinet spend ever more public money on themselves.

“This is the right thing to do. We may hear that there is more work for the cabinet to do, now that they have launched a transformation programme.

“But some cabinet portfolios are smaller than they were and we have been told that the coalition’s transformation programme is about saving money and improving services.

“If that requires a specific cabinet member then what are the other nine doing?

“We may hear that this was voted down last month when it was proposed as an amendment to the budget. Labour and Independent coalition councillors voted it down, Flintshire People’s Voice backed it.

“Labour and independent coalition councillors have seen the backlash against their decision. They know full well that the residents of Flintshire are not on their side on this issue.”

In response council leader Cllr Dave Hughes branded the motion inflammatory.

“There are several claims without foundation, mixed with misinformation and comments to inflame and disrupt this council,” he said.

“It is true I have increased the size of the cabinet – a decision made that considered the needs of this council  for the next two to five years.

“The council has a history of balancing every past budget. Although many opposition councillors may want to believe Flintshire was not close to Section 114 (the emergency measures implemented when councils have a budget deficit), they are misguided and misinformed.

“This is not due to bad management or poor decisions. It has to be placed on the shoulders of the Welsh Government and the level of our grant. We are a low-funded council, of that there is no argument.

“Audit Wales’ financial sustainability report identified a lack of long-term planing that is necessary to make changes to the way we do business and how the council might look in five to 10 years.

“Those challenges led me to believe that the cabinet at the time was not an adequate size to manage that need. Our cabinet is made up of 10 individuals with the skills and knowledge to manage a path through this period and is typical of council’s across Wales.

“In October I thought we were going into Section 114 – now we are not.”

Councillors again rejected the motion to reduce the cabinet.

By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter