proposals to improve the management of York council services at "street level" have come under fire for overlooking parish councils.

A report on neighbourhood community planning and management should be "thrown out", say Liberal Democrat councillors, because it concentrates on the council's ward committees.

The "bottom-up meets top-down" document was intended to develop new policies on involving residents in the provision of everyday services and facilities.

But Coun Peter Vaughan (Lib Dem), who is also a member of Huntington Parish Council, last night told City of York Council's community, economic development and commercial services executive it was "grossly inadequate" and should be withdrawn and rewritten. He said: "Parish councils are regarded by Labour members of this council as if they do not exist. But they raise several hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in taxation."

He was joined by Coun Harry Briggs (Lib Dem), who said he was "shocked" by the omission of the role played by parish councils.

He said: "It could be a way of pushing parish councils to the point where no-one looks at them for anything or expects anything from them."

Liberal Democrat leader, Coun Steve Galloway, objected to the "prescriptive" nature of the proposals in the paper.

He said: "If you are going to devolve power to local communities, giving them a list of who should be involved is counter-productive."

In reply, Coun Bob Scrase (Lab) said: "Ward committees are part of our council and we need to use them for planning, and that should not exclude parish councils."

Rory Barke, head of community planning and partnerships at the council, said the omission was unintentional.

He said: "Parish councils are a key factor in the communities they serve, and the whole thrust of this paper is to provide opportunities to better co-ordinate the way services are provided in a given area."

Councillors also heard that pioneering plans to provide low-cost loans and secure savings facilities through a York-based credit union are making progress.

A steering group has been established with the task of bringing new partners into the process and driving forward its development.

Councillors agreed to consider ways in which the council could support the credit union financially and through access to its facilities.

Updated: 09:57 Tuesday, February 18, 2003