York’s Green Party councillors are calling for a change in the way the council is run to encourage its parties to work “more constructively together to tackle the big issues” like the climate emergency and the cost of living crisis.

The councillors want City of York Council to replace the current ‘leader and cabinet’ model with a committee system.

Currently, Cllr Keith Aspden leads the council and appoints an executive committee of councillors, who make all the decisions.

This is the most common form of governance in the country, but the committee system has been gaining popularity, with Sheffield City Council following others in making the switch earlier this year.

In this system, councils are divided into politically balanced committees that make the decisions – giving all councillors a voice.

The Greens in York are asking for a public referendum to be held at the same time as the local council elections in May to see if the public back such a change.

Cllr Denise Craghill said: “We believe it is time for all parties on the council to find a way of working more constructively together to tackle the big issues that we face.

“A committee system won’t stop all political disagreements, and nor should it, but it does mean that all important decisions are made in public committees following discussion by councillors of all parties – and all elected councillors take part in decision making.”

The Liberal Democrats, who run the council with the support of the Greens, promised to “explore opportunities for a reformed committee structure for a more transparent and cross-party decision-making system” in their 2019 manifesto, but the model has not changed.

York last had a committee system more than 20 years ago, when local government rules forced a change to a leader and cabinet model.

The council has been dogged for years with claims about its culture and the way it makes decisions. A switch to a more collaborative style of governance has previously been suggested as a possible solution, though “one system is not intrinsically better than another”, according to the Local Government Association.

Green group leader Andy D’Agorne said: “York is a fantastic city with many advantages and opportunities, but we also face huge challenges including the climate and ecological emergency and the current cost of living crisis. We have to find the most constructive ways of working across party political groups and with our residents to address these challenges together.

“A move to a modern committee system would offer the opportunity to do this, whilst also providing options to include more public involvement in decision making such as more interactive public questions to the new decision-making committees.”

Cllr Craghill has submitted a motion to Full Council (July 14) on the issue and is “challenging all councillors to support greater collaboration.”