 His Honour Judge Gosnell has granted permission to a Doncaster resident to bring an application for judicial review challenging the elected Mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies, for his refusal to implement a decision of Doncaster’s councillors to save the authority’s libraries. The case is to be heard in Leeds Combined Court Centre on 24 July 2012. The claim will answer an important question about the balance of power between elected Mayors and councillors. The resident is represented by the solicitors firm Public Interest Lawyers.
On 23 February 2012, the Mayor proposed his budget for the forthcoming year to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council’s councillors sitting together as the ‘full Council.’ The head of the Labour group proposed an amendment to that budget which allocated funds to save two closed libraries and prevent 12 other libraries from being left to be run by volunteers. On 5 March 2012, the full Council voted (by 43 votes to 6 with 3 councillors abstaining) to include the proposed amendment in the budget. The law is clear that the setting of the budget is the responsibility of the full Council and not an elected Mayor.
The following day, the Mayor, an English Democrat, announced that he was not going to implement the budget as set by the Full Council and that the 14 libraries would continue, as he wished, to close or be transferred to community volunteers.
The law requires the Mayor to act “wholly in accordance” with the budget as set by the Council. The claim centres on whether the Mayor’s refusal to implement the budget can be said to be wholly in accordance with the budget.
In granting permission, His Honour Judge Gosnell observed that the “claim is clearly arguable.”
Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, said today:
The Mayor’s refusal to implement the decision of a two-thirds majority of all of Doncaster’s councillors is not only disastrous for the future of Doncaster’s libraries, it raises a fundamental question about the elected Mayor system. The claim will provide an important answer about the balance of power between an elected Mayor and all of an authority’s elected councillors. |
