A government Minister has vigorously defended moves to pay salaries to council leaders such as Rod Hills.

City of York Council may move towards putting Coun Hills and other senior members on the pay roll following the introduction of its new-style cabinet system.

An independent report is set to come out shortly with proposals on what could be a controversial move with some council tax payers, who believe councillors should claim no more than basic expenses.

Local Government Minister Hilary Armstrong, visiting York yesterday to speak about the modernisation of local authorities, was asked by the Evening Press whether she believed salaries for council leaders and other members of the cabinet executive should be part of the process.

She said running a modern local authority with a big budget was effectively a full-time job nowadays, and could not be done at meetings on three evenings a week.

And the senior councillors who took on this role were often hampered in their careers, for example by missing out on promotion. "There is no doubt that in recent years in some areas, we have had real difficulties in persuading people to spend the time. I think this (salaries) is something we have to face up to."

She said it was also important for other councillors outside the executive to have important roles in scrutinising its work. "We need to give real status, influence and positive meaning to scrutiny and representational roles."

Ms Armstrong praised councils in Yorkshire and Humberside, especially York, for rising to the challenges of modernisation and bringing new life to local democracy.

She told delegates at the Regional Assembly's Modernisation Conference, held at the Novotel Hotel: "By undertaking activities such as establishing Citizens Panels, setting up stakeholder meetings, developing leaflets and questionnaires, councils in Yorkshire and Humberside are putting their communities well-ahead of the game."

She also praised a "Best Value" review conducted by Ryedale District Council, particularly the way in which members had been actively involved.

Government plans to force all local authorities to replace the traditional committee structure with cabinets or directly elected mayors were thrown into doubt last night by a surprise defeat in the Lords for its Local Government Bill. The defeat would allow councils to keep the status quo, but the Government will seek to reverse the amendment.

The defeat will have no effect on councils such as York and Ryedale, which have already decided to bring in the cabinet system.

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