Panels or Committees?

Question

Our Town Council Annual meeting has taken place and our new Chairman/Mayor and Deputy Mayor have been elected. So far so good although personally I did not vote for the successful mayoral candidate. That is democracy.
However beyond that we vote for representatives on outside body and also members to sit on "Panels". We do not have committees, sub-committees and Working Groups: reports from Panels with any recommendations go straight to Full Council. There are 5 Panels and each elects a Panel "lead".

This year I have refused to apply for any Panels ( up to 7 members: instead I will go along to which-ever Panel I wish as an onlooker (daytime only). The Panels themselves can be quorate (3) and have TORs but Councillors are not summoned (as we are when going to Full Council). They do not have budgeted lines to approve. I understand our Council is not the only one to have this type of set up.  So my question is "are these Panels legal or justifiable?". Has anyone else any experience of the +/-?

Answer 1

I would have thought these panels are just another name for a 'cabinet' system of running a council, used by many District councils it seems.

Comments

Thanks for your reply. It tallies with what has and is happening. The issue is however: how do those Councillors who are not District Councillors prevent it. Party politics and allegiances has a strong bearing on it and appears to be an overriding factor in allowing this state of affairs to continue. Can the Monitoring Officer (of the District Council) have a role to play here? .