Council vote to move to committee system, with a little help from ice cream

There is so we are told, no such things as a dumb question. So here’s a question:

Who likes Ice cream?

We know Cllr Tim Prater (Lib Dem) Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance & Governance for Folkestone & Hythe District Council is a fan of ice cream.

At Wednesday’s meeting of Full Council, Cllr Prater, bandied around his metaphors, when explaining why moving to a Committee system is better than a Cabinet System (which the Council currently have), and yes he used an ice cream metaphor.

Now for those of you who might not be aware, when you buy a 99 ice cream it is around 40% air.  Air in ice cream affects the sensory properties of ice cream, like committee systems affect the perception properties of our council

Tim like his fellow Cllrs, like ice-cream, so voted for his motion to move to a Committee system. He like others in the room believe that it is more inclusive, as everyone can have ice cream, not just those in the Cabinet.

But Tim and his fellow Councillors need to remember the Centre for Governance & Scrutiny (CfGS) have said.

“don’t believe… that any one governance model is intrinsically better than any other.“; and

“There are no real pros or cons to any governance model.”

We also whole heartedly agree with the CfGS, as they state:

What is most important is culture – the behaviours, values and attitudes that govern how individuals work together.

But putting that aside, what are the pro’s and cons of a Committee System?

We sat down and gave this some thought, while eating ice cream. These are just some of pros and cons we came up with while eating ice cream with nearly 40% air, others we borrowed.

And let’s not forget these well know sayings either:

• “A camel is a horse designed by a committee.”
• “The best committee is a five-person committee, with four members absent.”
• “In a committee, minutes are taken but hours are wasted.”
• “It is like a corporation with neither a soul to be damned nor a body to be kicked.”
• “There is a group, but no individual responsibility or accountability. It is used as a shield to avoid personal responsibility for bad decisions or mistakes using justification as why would I bother with this problem.”

This aside, the content of how a committee system will look for our Council, Folkestone & Hythe District Council, will be developed and agreed in May 2024. This is when Cllrs will get their ice cream. The decision to move to a committee once voted on and agreed, means our Council will be locked in to the Committee system for five years, so until May 2029.

It will cost money to set up a Committee system. A budget of up to £100,000 (equal to 1% of Council Tax), has been set aside; which doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll spend the whole sum. 

So come May 2024, the Councillors will get their ice cream, but we want to know is, how much of the ice cream they’ll get will be air?

Well leave you to ponder that. 

The Shepway Vox Team

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