Crawley Borough Council: Labour–Conservative Agreement Begins

Late on Tuesday (July 14) night, normally opposing political groups on Crawley Borough Council agreed to govern the authority together.

In a historic joint statement by the leaders of the two groups, they said that any other form of governance could "risk paralysis" at the very time that the community most needs a stable council.

Within minutes, the town's MP Henry Smith, a Conservative, sent his praise, saying:

"My congratulations to Crawley Conservative Group Leader, Cllr Duncan Crow, and Borough Council, as well as Labour Leader, Cllr Peter Lamb, for coming together in unity for the good of our community as we tackle the CV19 crisis.

"I’ll continue to work with them."

Labour in the borough lost its slender majority when two councillors from its group, mother and son Karen Sudan and Rory Fiveash, became independents as a party investigation into social media posts began.

But their leaving the Labour party meant that the Conservatives became the largest single grouping on the local authority. 

Had the two councillors resigned their seats altogether, the Conservatives would have held the majority position.

In their joint statement tonight, Peter Lamb, the Labour leader, and Duncan Crow, who leads the Conservatives, said:

"In these unprecedented times, we as elected representatives owe it to those we serve to put party politics to one side and focus on getting the town through this crisis.

"This agreement ensures the council has the stability it needs to address the problems our community is facing, leaving it to the voters to decide who controls the council at the local elections next May."

Although Labour retains the upper hand as the titular administration, the agreement states that the Conservative council opposition members will be able to receive briefings from council staff with equal precedence compared to the administration's councillors.

Both parties will be involved in cabinet meetings; the administration's budget will be seconded (in other words, jointly proposed) by the Conservatives; and "neither group is individually responsible for a collective decision."

In full, tonight's agreement is:

• Crawley Borough Council will retain a Labour administration with the Leader and Cabinet remaining Labour members.
• The Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Cabinet members will be entitled to the same level of briefing from senior officers as the Leader and members of the Cabinet.
• A detailed list of items due to come before the council will be made available to the Shadow Cabinet.
• The Conservative Group will be providing confidence and supply to the administration and will be invited to send representatives (the Leader of the Opposition, supported by members of his Shadow Cabinet) to agree reports set to come before the council, including the Budget.
• The Leader of the Opposition will second the Budget at Full Council.
• There will be ‘joint accountability for joint decision making’, it will be recognised that neither group is individually responsible for a collective decision.
• Prior notification will no longer be required for the Leader of the Opposition to speak on an item at Cabinet, with the same right extended to Shadow Cabinet members on reports under their portfolio.
• In addition to the Leader and Cabinet posts, Labour Group nominees will receive the following roles: Deputy Mayor, Chair of Licensing, Vice-Chair of OSC, Vice-Chair of Planning, Vice-Chair of Governance, and Vice-Chair of Audit.
• Conservative Group nominees will receive the following roles: Mayor, Chair of OSC, Chair of Planning, Chair of Governance, Chair of Audit, and Vice-Chair of Licensing.
• Cllr Bob Lanzer will become Chair of the Neighbourhood Parades Scrutiny Panel.
• Agreement in principle that later in the year, work would occur (possibly via a constitutional change/ Notice of Motion) over the requirement for a more proportionate system for Chairs/Vice chair arrangements going forward.
• In the event of a hung-council at the 2021 Local Elections, the casting vote of the Mayor or Deputy Mayor will not be used to determine the next Mayor and political control until new talks have been held between the groups.
• Groups will avoid moving single-party motions at Full Council meetings.